Russ Hochtein’s versatility isn’t lost on the Patriots.

Journal / Bob Breidenbach

FOXBORO — In four-plus seasons as a member of the Patriots, Russ Hochstein has been a valuable and versatile player, starting seven regular-season games at center and three at left guard.

In the playoffs, he has started two games at center, two at guard and one at tight end. Once he even lined up as a fullback.

On Sunday, he made his first start as a Patriot at right guard, filling in for the injured Stephen Neal.

“I try to fill in where they need me to fill in,” Hochstein said. “I love to play football. I love this organization. I love being here.”

“Russ is a dependable guy for us,” New England head coach Bill Belichick said. “He’s been able to step in there at both guard and center for us through the years. He’s a smart guy. He works hard. He’s tough.”

“It wasn’t the first time I played right guard [in my life],” Hochstein said. “If you can play left guard, you should be able to play right guard. I’ve been around this offense for a while. I work hard at being able to play those positions and whatever other positions they ask me to.”

Hochstein also is a newlywed. He got married to East Greenwich native Christine M. Kane on July 6 in North Attleboro.

“I’m very happy being married,” Hochstein said. “I should have done it a long time ago. I got married in July. We dated for a long time”

First of many?

New England’s franchise defensive back, Asante Samuel, hopes his fourth-quarter interception on Sunday, his first of the season, is the first of many this season.

Samuel had 12 picks last season. He has 21 career interceptions, and 10 interceptions in his last 12 games dating back to his three- pick performance against Chicago on Nov. 26, 2006.

“It felt good, finally, to catch one,” Samuel said. “Last week I dropped one. It felt good to get on the board and catch one. It was a skinny post and I read it pretty good and the quarterback overthrew it. I saw the ball and I jumped up and I grabbed it.”

Samuel missed training camp because of a contract dispute. He signed a $7.79-million one-year deal on Aug. 28. While he was getting back into football shape, Randall Gay started in Samuel’s place in the first two games.

Samuel made his first start of the 2007-08 season on Sunday.

“I guess it was time. It was time for coach to say, ‘He’s in shape. He’s ready,’ ” Samuel said. “I’ve been playing a lot. [Sunday] was my first start. Coach finally put me in there and started me and I felt good and I made a play or two.”

Line standing firm

New England’s offensive line has been spectacular in the first three games, giving quarterback Tom Brady so much time that he has amassed 887 yards and 10 touchdowns with only 18 incompletions for a 79.5 completion percentage.

He also has a league-leading 141.8 quarterback rating. And he’s been sacked only three times.

“The way they performed [Sunday] was exceptional,” said Brady, who completed 23 of 29 passes for 311 yards and 4 touchdowns, which translated into a career-high 150.9 passer rating. “It’s kind of what they’ve been doing all year, but they were doing such a good job run blocking, we had a lot of holes there in the run game and they did a good job of pass protection.

“That allowed us to hold onto the ball a little bit longer.”

“Up front, we’ve got a lot of experience and we’re playing pretty well,” New England offensive lineman Matt Light said after Sunday’s game. “Our receivers are making plays, (and) we have four guys who are running the ball really effectively. Laurence [Maroney] had a big game today. Sammy [Morris], Kevin [Faulk], and having Heath [Evans] come out of the backfield, too, those guys are running the ball really hard.”

So far, so good

Chris Hanson had only a 29.5-yard average on his two punts on Sunday, but Belichick isn’t worried about that performance.

“I like what we’re seeing from Chris,” Belichick said. “Chris did what we asked him to do yesterday. Could his punts have gone a little bit further? Maybe they could have, but he did what we asked him to do. Therefore, I’m happy with that. Could it be better? It could be better.”

Hanson was instructed to kick the ball out of bounds, away from Buffalo return man Roscoe Parrish.

roblee@projo.com