Lessons learned were many, varied

Bill Belichick was glad that his defensive line was given lots to handle by Tampa Bay. (RICK RUNION/REUTERS)

With Richard Seymour on the physically unable to perform list and Ty Warren leaving Friday night's preseason opener after two plays because of an apparent injury, the Patriots' depth on the defensive line was taxed.

But Jarvis Green, who started at right defensive end in place of Seymour, said it's too early to sound the alarm.

"We still have time -- it's the first week of the preseason, the third week of training camp," said Green, who was credited with two tackles and a sack Friday night in a 13-10 loss to the Buccaneers in Tampa. "The big thing is for the guys on the field to keep working on their technique, to keep working to jell together. I felt like we got some of that work done."

When Warren exited, he was replaced by third-year veteran Mike Wright (four tackles, a sack), giving the Patriots a top line of Green and Wright sandwiched around nose tackle Vince Wilfork. The reserve units had veteran Kenny Smith and former practice squad player Santonio Thomas at the ends and second-year player Le Kevin Smith at nose tackle.

The first defense stonewalled the Buccaneers' top offensive unit on the first two drives, both three-and-outs. But the unit was knocked back on its heels on the third drive, with the Buccaneers grinding out 49 rushing yards en route to a field goal. Overall, Tampa rushed for 169 yards on 36 carries, a 4.7-yard average.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick said the Buccaneers provided a variety of running plays for the front seven to handle and expressed his admiration for Tampa Bay offensive line coach Bill Muir, with whom Belichick coached with the New York Jets.

"They ran a lot of different running plays, which was good for our defense: zone, trap, misdirection, cutback plays," said Belichick. "It was a great learning experience for our football team."

Looking forward to Friday night's tilt with the Titans at Gillette Stadium, Belichick explained his rationale for preseason game planning. He said the coaching staff must strike a balance between preparing for what the opponent runs and evaluating players in the Patriots' system. "I don't think it's really all that good in the evaluation process to run plays that attack the heart of [the opponent's] scheme because you just find out you have a good play against that scheme. That's not what we're looking for. We're looking for how our players execute the basic fundamentals."

Belichick on the performance of rookie first-round choice Brandon Meriweather, who played left cornerback with the second team: "I think Brandon would fall into that category of there were some things that were good and other things he did he could have done better, and he needs to learn from them and improve the next time out." . . . Rookie outside linebacker Justin Rogers, who had a sack and a fumble recovery that set up a game-tying field goal, drew praise from Belichick for using his hand to defeat an attempted cut block on his third-quarter sack . . . Fifth-round draft choice Clint Oldenburg, who has lined up primarily at left tackle in training camp, also played guard . . . The Patriots practice this afternoon at 2:30, but the session is closed to the public.