08:39 AM EDT on Thursday, August 26, 2004

BY TOM E. CURRAN
Journal Sports Writer

Journal file photo Adrian Klemm, one of the Patriots' offensive tackles, continues to find a home on the team's roster in spite of numerous injuries in the past.

FOXBORO -- Adrian Klemm's been in New England four years and has bought and sold two houses.

The Patriots offensive lineman isn't flipping them for profit (though he's surely made one). Both times he sold because he thought he was shipping out, about to be cut.

Like many who try to figure out when the team will be forced to cut ties with their former second-round pick from 2000 (the first draftee of the Bill Belichick-Scott Pioli regime), Klemm has anticipated the same thing.

But he keeps on hanging on because he's tremendously versatile and a lot tougher than anyone knows. For instance, few know anything about Klemm's reconstructive knee surgeries, his damaged ankle, the calf muscle he tore from the bone or the dislocated elbow he suffered in his first training camp. And Klemm isn't going to talk much about it because he's just a quiet guy.

His career has been dotted with disappointment for him, too. And talking freely about his role isn't comfortable for him because he knows he hasn't done much.

But inside the network of the Patriots, Klemm is valued for his toughness, versatility and the fact that he keeps coming back from his assorted injuries to doggedly pursue the regular job most figured he'd have nailed down by now.

Yesterday, head coach Bill Belichick alluded to the fact that Klemm is very much in the mix for a starting job along the offensive line. This was somewhat of a surprise because so far, he's been subbing for rehabbing Matt Light at left tackle. Light -- along with center Dan Koppen and right guard Joe Andruzzi -- is a likely starter on opening day. He's been there for three seasons and plays the spot well.

But Klemm is adaptable enough to play either guard or tackle on either end of the line. And the way Belichick sees it, even if Klemm isn't currently playing at the spots that are still being competed for -- left guard and right tackle -- he is in the hunt because Belichick is always in search of the best combinations on the offensive line. In other words, Klemm could emerge at a spot he hasn't practiced at.

"I think he is challenging for playing time at tackle," said Belichick. "I think he also, in terms of the best five, could challenge for playing time at guard, if that is what it comes to. Now he hasn't gotten a lot of work there so far because of our tackle situation. He and Brandon have played a lot of tackle with Tom and Matt [Light] out. Now that they are back, that kind of heats up that competition, and we will try to get our best guys out there.

"Clearly what has hurt Adrian has been the durability. He just hasn't been out there. He has missed significant time in each of the seasons. I think that he has had a good, consistent camp in terms of being out there, getting a lot of reps and working hard. . . . He has really helped himself."

Last season, Klemm, 27, injured his ankle in the season's third game. He wound up on injured reserve because the Patriots got hit with a rash of injuries and needed to activate players at other positions.

"It wasn't something that we wanted to do and it wasn't something that he wanted to do, but we needed some roster spots for those weeks, so, that is what happened there," Belichick said.

While the five linemen who started in the Super Bowl -- Light, Andruzzi, Koppen, right tackle Tom Ashworth and right guard Russ Hochstein -- are now all healthy and practicing, Belichick isn't inclined to make those players his no-questions-asked starters.

"I think overall it is a pretty competitive situation," Belichick said. "We saw guys last year when we were sitting here talking about offensive linemen whose names probably wouldn't have even come up who ended up playing a lot of football for us, and a lot of good football. Where it ends up and where it all starts, a lot of times, is two different places."

No player is more aware of that than Klemm.