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Kick & punt coverage

Email|Link|Comments (2) By Mike Reiss, Globe Staff October 4, 07 11:15 AM

FOXBOROUGH -- Patriots coach Bill Belichick held his Thursday press conference (10:50 a.m.) and one area he continues to stress is kickoff and punt coverage.

Cleveland's Josh Cribbs leads the NFL with 16 returns for 549 yards (34.3 avg.), which includes a 99-yard return for a touchdown in Week 3 against the Raiders. Cribbs also returns punts.

"A big challenge for us this week is going to be Cribbs in the return game," Belichick said. "This guy is really good. We did kickoffs yesterday, and [will do] punts today. He is a tough guy to handle."

With that in mind, here is a look at the personnel the Patriots used on kickoff and punt coverage in Monday night's win:

Kickoff coverage: Rashad Baker, Randall Gay, Mel Mitchell, Mike Wright, Larry Izzo, James Sanders, Brandon Meriweather, Willie Andrews, Eric Alexander, Pierre Woods, Stephen Gostkowski

Punt coverage: Rashad Baker, Larry Izzo, Mel Mitchell, Willie Andrews, Brandon Meriweather, David Thomas, Heath Evans, Pierre Woods, Eric Alexander, Lonie Paxton, Chris Hanson

2 comments so far...

As for punt coverage, you already noted in your previous blog entry that Marcellus Rivers would likely replace David Thomas (IR), so we'll see how well he works with the rest of the folks. At least Rivers has some previous experience from when Thomas was hurt earlier in the year and he was on the team.

Posted by Kevin October 4, 07 11:51 AM

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Mike Wright covering kickoffs - very impressive!

Posted by Bob October 4, 07 03:28 PM

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Mike Reiss and other Globe reporters provide regular updates -- and a behind the scenes look -- on the daily happenings of the Patriots.

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