Patriots to give under-the-radar defender larger role amid struggles

FOXBORO — Jerod Mayo on Wednesday announced the Patriots would shake up their starting lineup for their Week 6 matchup with the Jaguars in London.

One player set to play a larger role against Jacksonville: linebacker Christian Elliss.

Elliss primarily has played on passing downs and special teams thus far, but defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington indicated he’ll get more looks on early downs moving forward.

“I think Elliss has done a good job with his third-down role, and obviously he’ll see more early-down snaps,” Covington said Thursday. “… He’ll definitely have an opportunity. I think he’s done a really good job in his role with our special teams, he’s done a really good job on third down for us, and we think he could expand that role on early downs.”

Elliss played exclusively on special teams after joining the Patriots late last season and has maintained that role this season, playing 84% of New England’s snaps in the kicking game through six weeks. But he’s seen an uptick in defensive snaps in the wake of Ja’Whaun Bentley’s season-ending injury, and outside of his costly third-down pass interference penalty against Miami, he’s handled those well.

In last week’s loss to Houston, Elliss tallied four tackles and half a sack and was New England’s third-highest-graded defender by Pro Football Focus.

Raekwon McMillan, meanwhile, has struggled since replacing Bentley in the starting lineup, with his missteps contributing to the big gains New England has allowed in the run game in recent weeks.

“I would just say we have to be better, Mayo said of the Patriots’ linebacking corps as a whole. “We’re not playing at the level that we need to. Look, Bentley’s not coming back anytime soon, so we need someone to step up in that role. Whether you get that from the linebacker room or the safety room, you just need to have better production out of that group.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/AkCRljQ