Without Rodney Harrison, Bill Belichick is only interested in what Guss Scott and the rest of his defense can do against Chargers star Antonio Gates.

01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, September 29, 2005

BY TOM E. CURRAN
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO -- "Thank you for believing in me when no one else did," Rodney Harrison said to Patriots head coach Bill Belichick after the 2003 AFC Championship Game win over the Colts.

"Man," said Belichick, embracing the player he'd coveted and admired since coaching Harrison in the 1998 Pro Bowl, "I'm so glad we've got you."

And now Belichick doesn't have him anymore. At least not for this season. The great safety is done for the year. His number, to put it coldly, came up. He ripped three ligaments in his left knee on a simple two-yard running play by Willie Parker. Given the virtual car wrecks Harrison gets himself into a dozen times a game, it's strange to see him cut down that way. It'd be like Lance Armstrong falling off his bike on the way to his mailbox.

Losing Harrison has to make Belichick sick to his stomach -- as a football coach and as a human being.

While his methods sometimes were a little, shall we say, out of the box, few players better epitomize the commitment to excellence and pride of craftsmanship that Belichick seeks than Harrison.

And while some might think it callous that Belichick wouldn't give a verbal epitaph for Harrison's season yesterday, it was wholly appropriate.

"What do you like about Rodney Harrison as a football player on and off the field?" Belichick was asked.

"I like everything about him," Belichick answered.

"What did Rodney Harrison do in his three seasons since he's come here? What has he brought to this team?"

"He's done a lot on and off the field," Belichick added.

"Anything unique?"

"Every player is unique," Belichick said, dodging particulars like land mines. "I think every player is unique. Tell me two players that are alike. Tell me two people in this room that are the same. Do we have identical twins in here? Tell me two people that are alike. Find them. Just show me where they are. There aren't two people that are alike. That's why we're all different. We're all individuals."

"You're not going to give some words on Rodney on this Wednesday before the game, is that right?"

"I have all the respect in the world for Rodney Harrison. I told him that when we brought him here, and he's made great contributions to this team. There's no question about it. Unfortunately, he had a tough setback last weekend and so did the team, but that's the way it is. We're playing San Diego this week. Unfortunately, he won't be with us. I wish he was, but he's not."

There are things Belichick won't do that seem to betray the rules of basic decency. Telling an opposing trainer to get away from one of his players when the trainer is trying to help. Not articulating what Harrison has meant to the football team while Harrison's knee is still swollen and the player is in deep despair.

He'd seem a nicer guy if he'd play along. But it is not, as he says, what's good for the football team to have the opposition examining players or the head coach lamenting the loss of a great, great player and individual when his team has to move on.

Antonio Gates isn't going to care where Harrison is or how bad everyone feels about it. The San Diego Chargers' tight end only cares what Guss Scott can do about him. And that's what Belichick cares about: how well the second-year safety from Florida will do on Sunday. Pining for Harrison won't make Scott play better.

There would never be a good week to lose Harrison, but to lose him before a game with the Chargers is particularly tough because of the matchup. The Chargers have the best running back in football in LaDainian Tomlinson. That means the Patriots would like to cheat their safeties up to give support against the run, almost like a linebacker. Harrison has been doing that a ton this year, maybe more than he had in his first two years. It's doubtful that either Scott or Eugene Wilson can play as well "in the box" as Harrison.

Meanwhile, Gates is one of the most skilled tight ends in the league, a 6-foot-4, 260-pouind glue-fingered target that presents a tremendous problem to match up with physically. Scott is 5-10, 205, and neither he nor anyone else in the league has the kind of intimidating presence that Harrison does.

"Everybody is going to be matched up against everybody at some point," Belichick said when asked about Scott covering Gates. "What it really comes down to defensively is being able to play good team defense and take care of the Chargers' attack. It's not going to be one guy that can stop the Chargers, or one guy that can do this, or one guy can cover him, or one guy is going to take Tomlinson."

Scott was absent during media access to the locker room yesterday. Wilson slipped away without talking.

And what could they say? Gates is going to be very tough to handle.

"He has outstanding hands, great hand-eye coordination, makes a lot of very difficult catches, but he makes them look easy," said Belichick. "It seems like the ball is never at a place where it's a struggle for him to catch it."

With Harrison on the field, every catch in the deep middle is a struggle. Even if he's 20 yards away, the notion Harrison might be coming is enough to make any receiver -- no matter how big -- sweat. But the big, bad safety won't be out there this week. And Belichick would -- understandably -- rather not talk about that.

A comparison

The Patriots' Guss Scott . . .

Position: Strong safety

Height: 5-foot-10

Weight: 205

Born on: 5/21/82

College: Florida

NFL experience: 2

Defensive stats

Year G Tckl Ast Sk Int PD

2004 0 0.0 0 0 0 0

2005 3 9.0 1 0 0 0

vs. the Chargers' Antonio Gates

Position: Tight end

Height: 6-foot-4

Weight: 260

Born on: 6/18/80

College: Kent State

NFL experience: 3

Receiving stats

Year G GS Rec. Yds Avg Lg TD

2003 15 11 24 389 16.2 48 2

2004 15 15 81 964 11.9 72 13

2005 2 2 12 172 14.3 24 1