Patriots switch positions along offensive line in first-team grouping
FOXBORO — Those hoping to see new combinations along the Patriots’ offensive line should be happy with what the team debuted in Saturday’s practice.
The session was otherwise shorter at just 90 minutes, non-padded and filled with half-speed walk-throughs.
But the team’s initial offensive line was the Patriots’ regular starting group with Vederian Lowe at left tackle, Sidy Sow at left guard, David Andrews at center, Mike Onwenu at right guard and Chukwuma Okorafor at right tackle. Three plays in, however, rookies Caedan Wallace and Layden Robinson replaced Okorafor and Sow at right tackle and left guard, respectively. Michael Jordan then mixed in at right guard, Okorafor re-entered the line at left tackle, Liam Fornadel saw snaps at center, and Onwenu saw his first reps of the summer at right tackle.
Wallace said the coaches didn’t express any reasoning behind the change.
“They just said we’re switching stuff up, guys will be in and out at different sides,” Wallace said.
That rotation extended past the Patriots’ first set of 11-on-11 drills into other full-team drills. As practice wrapped, however, quarterbacks Jacoby Brissett and Drake Maye both went through a walk-through period with Lowe, Sow, Andrews and Okorafor at their regular spots while the backup offensive line worked on a side field with Joe Milton and Bailey Zappe at QB.
It was notable that backup offensive tackle Calvin Anderson and backup center Nick Leverett were both held out of practice Saturday.
“We’ve just got a few guys out,” Onwenu said. “So, I mean, we’re all kind of getting reps and just practicing for the worst.”
Onwenu started out the offseason workout program at right tackle during organized team activities but had moved to right guard by the end of minicamp. Onwenu continued playing right guard during the first three weeks of training camp until moving outside to tackle on Saturday. Onwenu has started at right guard, left guard and right tackle during his NFL career. Head coach Jerod Mayo said back in March that the initial plan for Onwenu — after the O-lineman signed a three-year, $51 million contract in free agency, was to play tackle. Clearly that has since changed.
“Just getting those reps today, I thought I only got maybe six or eight reps. The more I get or the more practice I take and just get comfortable with it,” Onwenu said.
Onwenu even said that during the offseason he practices snapping in case of emergency. Emergency could strike the Patriots this season. Leverett had become a dependable option behind Andrews until his recent injury. The Patriots’ experimented with moving Atonio Mafi to center, but that failed. Fornadel, a CFL guard, as the top backup at that position on Saturday.
Onwenu said he would prefer to know where he’s going to play before a game so he knows who he’ll be blocking and need to study.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/FsV3I19
Post a Comment