FOXBORO – It is a relatively simple question without, it seems, an equally simple answer: how will the ban on wedge formations impact special teams play?

The NFL voted during the March owners' meetings to ban the wedge, three or four hand-holding offensive or defensive linemen who formed a wall to help to clear a path for kick returners. The wedge made for violent collisions, as wedge busters – those players crazy enough to launch themselves into a mass of exceedingly large men moving at top speed – can tell tales of being knocked out too many times to remember.

The thinking was, eliminating the wedge might help cut down on serious injuries.

The new rule stipulates that three or more players are prohibited from lining up shoulder-to-shoulder within two yards of one another; if that happens, it's a 15-yard penalty.

But soon-retiring NFL head of officiating Mike Pereira told the New York Times earlier this year that intent will play a role in whether or not the flag is thrown – if three or four players come together at the last moment to throw a block, it would not be considered a wedge and therefore there would be no penalty.

Come again? Four men coming together to block, isn't that a wedge? And it would be possible for two, or even three, two-man teams to simply choreograph their run and make sure they stay a couple of yards apart, forming a wall.

It is no wonder then that New England Patriots players aren't sure how the new rule will impact how they play special teams, and coach Scott O'Brien doesn't have a concrete answer either.

"It's going to impact everybody – schematically, what you use yourself, all the adjustments you have to make for what you have to try and anticipate everybody else is going to try to adjust off it," O'Brien said. "I think it's going to be a preseason of seeing who's doing what and why they're doing it, and the kind of adjustments that they've made to protect the players."

Le Kevin Smith tries to explain the difference, but it isn't as clear cut either.

"They don't want the huge collisions, so now you can't have three guys together. You can still have two guys together, because that's not technically a wedge, and a ‘floater' guy, so guys are still trying to be as close to the rules without breaking the rules," he said. "You have to be at least three or four yards behind, so whoever your floater guy is on the wedge has to be three yards behind or in front of the wedge."

The simple matter is, there's a lot of gray area. And few people dislike gray area more than Bill Belichick.

"We'll see how exactly that is officiated and how it gets called," Belichick said. "Being a yard away when everybody's running full speed and then there's going to be a big collision between coverage guys and blockers . . . where that yard is and if it does or doesn't exist at the right time, we'll see how all that gets officiated. I don't really have the answer to that question. I'm interested to see myself. I think there are a number of interpretations that will need to be made.

"I think it's going to be a little harder than what is being described."

New England has not relied primarily on the wedge to help returners find open field, so perhaps there will not be as much adjustment necessary for the Patriots than other teams.

Smith believes there will be less of the super-sized offensive linemen on the field, giving way to faster players like tight ends, something O'Brien agrees with.

"I think you could probably say that because now they don't have to gap-position a wall. It's going to end up being a line. With everybody on the field, it's a matter of defeating one guy and on the other side of that, it's going to be a challenge for the return team to be accountable for everybody on the field, and I think you start to create more speed out there as opposed to the bigger guys that could take on a wall and fit gaps and cancel gaps; (that has) completely changed," he said.

With an NFL officiating crew scheduled to be with the Patriots from Wednesday through Friday, O'Brien and Belichick will likely have a lot of questions.

Though it doesn't seem they are likely to get many answers.

"I think there's some interpretation there that's not totally clear to me," Belichick said. "I'm not sure if it's totally clear to anybody."

smanza@projo.com