Mr. Hobbs takes his position
FOXBOROUGH -- Despite undergoing surgery on his broken left wrist Sept. 27, second-year cornerback Ellis Hobbs never believed his absence from the lineup would be a long one.
``I knew I was going to play, it was in my mind the whole time," Hobbs said after he suited up in the Patriots' 20-10 victory over the Dolphins yesterday. ``I just need that first initial hit. Once I got that, we were good."
After missing the game last week in Cincinnati, Hobbs lined up at cornerback and safety yesterday. The work at safety was his first as a member of the Patriots.
To protect his injured wrist, Hobbs wore a black cast that covered his left thumb and extended toward his elbow. He said it was never a consideration that he would rest the wrist with the Patriots entering a bye week after facing the Dolphins.
``That's not the way I work," he said. ``We have a lot of guys banged up. Far be it [from] me to sit on the sideline if I can play."
Hobbs said the cast restricted him at times, like when he was defending Dolphins receiver Wes Welker (nine catches, 77 yards) on a 25-yard post route in the second quarter that set up Miami's touchdown.
``That play was on my left arm," he said. ``I felt like if I could stretch it further, I could have made the play."
Hobbs, who struggled at times while defending Welker in the slot, added that he couldn't use his hands as he normally would, so jamming receivers at the line of scrimmage was difficult. But he had no problems when lining up at safety, which was a new position for him.
``It doesn't matter to me where I play," he said. ``I just want to be on the field. It doesn't matter to any of us, and that's what makes us good and dynamic. We're willing to go the extra mile to play other positions."
``I've had a bunch of them in preseason, but to get one at that time, against that team, it was special," said Evans, whose last touchdown in a non-preseason game came when as a senior at Auburn.
Evans played six games for the Dolphins last season, but was cut unexpectedly during the season. On yesterday's touchdown, he was covered by linebacker Zach Thomas, one of his close friends from his Miami days.
Quarterback Tom Brady said Evans was his primary receiver on the play.
``He made a nice catch with people right at the sideline," Brady said. ``It was a big play in the game, and nice for Heath to do well against the Dolphins."
After the game, Wright seemed more focused on the penalty than anything else, saying he played poorly on special teams.
``I tried to get position on one of the guys running down and he took me right down the middle," he said. ``I couldn't get my leverage on him and he beat me. It was a huge mistake on my part."
Wright said the blocked field goal -- the Patriots' first in the regular season since Oct. 19, 2003 -- was a low kick and he didn't believe it originally was intended to go to his side. ``There really wasn't anything to it," he said.
On the play in which Wright tackled Jones, the Patriots had their ``punt safe" team on the field. Wright plays on the wing in that alignment, which is designed to protect against a fake. ``I was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time," he said.
``We tried to kick a field goal against the Jets [in Week 2 with a late 24-17 lead], and really, thinking back on it, that was a poor decision on my part," Belichick said. ``It was the only way we could lose, to get a kick blocked and get it run back. [Against Miami], they're a long way away with no timeouts, and really one play ices the game for us. We were able to make that play, and if we got another chance with the Jets' situation, I probably would have gone for it on that one, too."
Brady found tight end Benjamin Watson for a 15-yard gain on the fourth-and-3 play.
