It's become habit with this Patriots defense. One defender goes down, one reserve jumps into his slot. It's happened throughout the secondary and on the defensive line. But over the past two seasons, it has never happened at nose tackle, never happened to Vince Wilfork. And that has been fortunate for the Patriots. (Full article: 740 words)

This article is available in our archives:

Globe Subscribers

FREE for subscribers

Subscribers to the Boston Globe get unlimited access to our archives.

Not a subscriber?

Non-Subscribers

Purchase an electronic copy of the full article. Learn More

• $9.95 1 month archives pass
• $24.95 3 months archives pass
• $74.95 1 year archives pass