Changing of the guard

If he wants to take the Patriots back to the Super Bowl, he’ll have to do it one more time.

Left guard Damien Woody was listed as doubtful today for Sunday’s AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts, giving him just a 25 percent chance of playing when the two teams face off at Gillette Stadium. As the Boston Globe reported this morning, provided the Patriots beat the Colts, Woody would also miss the Super Bowl after tearing the medial collateral ligament in his right knee during New England’s 17-14 win in the AFC divisional playoff game against the Tennessee Titans last weekend.

The injury means the former Pro Bowl lineman may have played his final game for the Patriots. The fifth-year Boston College product will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

“We’ll just take it day by day, but that’s his status for the week,” Belichick said this morning at his daily press briefing at Gillette Stadium. “You can’t plan things up every week and this week will be no different. Like any other position, if somebody can’t play, then somebody else will step in and do the job.”

That somebody this week is Russ Hochstein, who last started against the Washington Redskins Sept. 28 (incidentally, the last time the Patriots lost) and will take Woody’s spot Sunday. Hochstein replaced Woody in the Patriots lineup during the third quarter against the Titans, and all things considered, didn’t fare badly.

Against Tennessee, the Patriots ran for 96 yards against the statistically best-run defense in the league, their ninth highest total in 17 games this season. Nor did the offensive line allow a sack of quarterback Tom Brady, something the New England defense was able to do three times on Titans quarterback Steve McNair.

“That was a very challenging situation because Tennessee has got an outstanding front four,” Belichick said. “Some plays were better than others but overall it was OK.”

In the last game Hochstein started against Washington, the Patriots rushed for 106 yards in a 20-17 loss to the Redskins. That accounted for the seventh-highest total the Patriots had all season. Brady was sacked just once in that game.

While many of the players declined to officially declare Woody out, the 26-year-old Hochstein said he’s ready to play if called upon.

“I’m just trying to do my part and fill in where I can, and it looks like I may be doing that at the left spot, so I’m just trying to work hard so I make sure I do everything right, fill in and do my best,” Hochstein said.

While the Patriots are widely regarded to have a weak rushing attack, they averaged just about five yards per game less (105.0 yards vs. 100.4 yards) than the Indianapolis Colts, who tout Edgerrin James in their high-powered arsenal.

But in order to win Sunday, the Patriots will likely need a healthier running game than they had in their previous meeting, against the Colts a 38-34 New England win Nov. 30. The Patriots had just 56 yards rushing that afternoon, their smallest output of the season.

After being elected to his first Pro Bowl last season as a backup center, Woody shifted to left guard in the Oct. 5 contest against the Titans, the first win of what is currently a 13-game winning streak. With Woody at left guard, and rookie at center, the offensive line began to gel, and has the Patriots on the doorstep of their second Super Bowl trip in three seasons.

“Woody being there all season and helping me out, he’s been able to point out certain things and help me along with my development, so it’s been great having him in there,” said fellow BC alumnus Koppen.

But it was evident that his mates on the offensive line feel no worse for the wear with Hochstein in there in lieu of Woody. Just yet another case of a player filling in, something the Patriots have had some good practice in by now, even if it is a Pro Bowl lineman they’re losing going into the AFC Championship, with a trip to Houston on the line.

“Pro Bowl is Pro Bowl, to me, it doesn’t really mean much,” right guard Joe Andruzzi said. “There are 53 men on this team, and nobody’s here to take a backup role. When it’s your turn to be called upon, and Russ has been called upon a bunch of times this year, I don’t think there’s going to be a huge turnoff. It’s just a process of us, as an offensive line, all five guys working as one, and we’ve got to be on the same page.”