FOXBORO -- With third-down backs, H-backs, rush linebackers, nickel corners and long snappers, the NFL is often said to be in an age of specialization.

Particularly special, then, is the player who can do more than one thing. The Patriots have a fleet of them, from Mike Vrabel to Richard Seymour to Troy Brown. But one player whose versatility gets short-shrift is Eugene Wilson.

Selected as a cornerback out of Illinois in 2003, there was no great scheme to turn Wilson into anything other than the heir apparent to Ty Law. Then Lawyer Milloy got cut the week before that season opened, Antwan "Pudding" Harris came up soft and gooey in the opener against the Bills and Wilson found himself playing free safety next to Rodney Harrison in the second game of the season.

Long story short, Wilson was the starter at free safety when the Pats won two straight Super Bowls. By the start of last year, Wilson was easily one of the best young safeties in the AFC, a terrific cover guy and a surprisingly nasty hitter.

Then things changed again. Harrison got hurt in the season's third game and Wilson became the dean of the New England secondary. But after being tutored extensively by Harrison, he wasn't decisive enough with his own reads when Harrison was out. And he sure wasn't ready to take charge of the secondary as a whole. The Patriots pass defense reeled. Even though he settled into his role better as the year went on, overall, the season was a struggle.

"I did my best," Wilson said yesterday. "Last year is last year. I'm just working to do what I can to get better."

And that may mean a return to cornerback. In the first three practices of this summer's training camp, Wilson worked extensively on the edge of the defense while Artrell Hawkins, Guss Scott, James Sanders, Tebucky Jones and Mel Mitchell have played most of the time at safety.

It's too soon to tell whether he's dabbling there or making a switch. And, truth is, we probably won't know once the season starts, either.

"Defensive backs are defensive backs and to a certain extent they do a lot of the same things regardless of where you put them," Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said yesterday. "They're going to have to cover somebody. They're going to have to tackle in the open field. As a safety, Eugene has had a lot of coverage responsibility and experience doing that. He's had a lot of experience tackling . . . 10, 15, 20, 25 yards past the line of scrimmage. He's done those things regardless of where he plays, regardless of where any defensive back plays, they're still going to have to execute those types of responsibilities sooner or later somewhere along the line."

In other words, Belichick is saying, "We're not reinventing the wheel here with Wilson at corner."

Fair enough. But they are arming their secondary to deal with injuries and/or offensive schemes that try to create matchup headaches for secondaries.

"If you have a safety who had corner skills that you can put on a receiver that certainly makes it a lot less of a concern (in coverage)," Belichick said Friday. "(Offenses) are trying to force those in-the-box type of safeties to go out and cover, and that creates a bad matchup."

The Patriots are also addressing a weakness by getting Wilson out of the safety spot. Offenses were also adept at exploiting the Pats' safeties with bigger tight ends last season. Wilson is a hitter but he's 5-foot-10, 195 pounds. Against an Alge Crumpler, for example (6-2, 262 pounds), Wilson's at a disadvantage. Crumpler caught 6 passes for 99 yards against the Pats last year. Antonio Gates caught 6 for 108. Randy McMichael had 7 for 81. Tony Gonzalez had 4 for 63. That's why adding a safety such as Jones at 6-2, 220 can help the Pats deal with those bigger power-forward types.

Whether the Pats are doing it to enhance a strength or mask a weakness (or both), Wilson likes having his plate piled high with responsibilities.

"I've got to work on my versatility," he said. "Last year we had some corner problems with guys getting hurt. Last year I didn't get as much work in camp at corner so I'm thinking if they need me at corner this year, I've got to get ready for it. I just consider myself a DB. I do both (safety and corner). So I'm a DB."

tcurran@projo.com / (401) 277-7340