FOXBORO -- On Sunday, linebacker Mike Vrabel eased back into the Patriots' defensive alignment and responded with three sacks.
Vrabel, sidelined for the better part of four weeks with a broken bone in his arm, is the first of a fleet of injured Patriots to reenter the team's on-field atmosphere. As he and others such as Ted Johnson and Ted Washington get back into game shape, coach Bill Belichick and his staff are in an interesting pinch: How to deploy the returning players when the ones who replaced them have played so well.
Vrabel, for instance, bumped Matt Chatham from most of the Pats' regular defensive schemes. Chatham had been outstanding at outside linebacker, even scoring a touchdown against the Giants. His reduction in playing time was mitigated by a leg injury suffered in Miami. The question of working players back into the lineup was posed to Belichick yesterday.
"When I talked to the team at the beginning of the year, we talked about playing time, inactives, all those things and how it related to the team and the players individually," the head coach explained. "The bottom line is, we're going to make decisions that are best for the team. A player can't control that. His job is to be ready to go when called on. Let (the coaching staff) worry about who plays where, when and how much."
Johnson worked out before Sunday's game by running on the field. When he returns from his foot injury, will the Pats return to their 3-4 alignment or will they remain in the 4-3 with Tedy Bruschi in the middle? These are good problems to have, but they still must be addressed.
Rookies learn the ropes
The Pats, who were given yesterday off before they prepare for Denver Monday night, continue to get huge contributions from their first-year players.
"We've had an unusual number (of rookie contributors)," Belichick said. "But there's nothing in the rule book that says a rookie can't play well. Lawrence Taylor was defensive player of the year early in his career. Not that we have LT here, but when young guys come in and if they're good football players and adapt techniques to game conditions and play well on Sunday they can be productive."
Belichick said that rookies aren't generally slotted to take over positions by the first half of their first season.
"We draft them, bring them in and start putting them into the system," he said. "We try to get them to learn on a broad base what all the things are. Then as we formulate the team and they gain experience we see players' performances on different skills and at some point we try to incorporate them. As they grow and develop as players, then we expand on that. The first thing a player needs to do is to establish a role for himself. Once he establishes that then his role can expand. One problem some players have is they can't establish a role. They wind up being pretty good at a few things but not good enough (at one) to get on the field and get an active roster spot."
Squib kicks
Keys to Sunday's win? "If you can play well on third down and not give up big plays (you can have success)," said Belichick. "We committed fewer penalties (3 for 30 yards), didn't turn the ball over, played well on third down (Cleveland was 3 for 14 on third) and didn't give up any real long plays (none of 20 or more yards). That's a good formula right there." . . . Running back Mike Cloud was inactive Sunday. Antowain Smith, Kevin Faulk and Patrick Pass were the active tailbacks. "All three backs (Smith, Faulk and Cloud) have been productive," said Belichick, "and I think they'll continue to be used game to game. There's no set formula. It's based on what we think the best combination is."
