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January 28, 2008

Patriots receivers take pride in blocking

New England coach Bill Belichick said that one of the reasons why the Patriots have been so successful running the ball lately is because of the exceptional downfield blocking by the Patriots’ wide receivers.

“I think that our receivers have done a good job all year of blocking, probably the best that I’ve had since I’ve been with the Patriots,” Belichick said. “…I think these guys have blocked well all year. They’ve been an important part of the running game. You can’t have good runs unless the secondary people get blocked or screened off by the receivers…It’s been an important part of our running game. It’s been an important part of some of our big runs along with Laurence [Maroney], and Sammy [Morris] and Kevin [Faulk’s] running.”

Maroney has rushed for 122 yards in both of the Patriots postseason games, and he has amassed 550 yards six rushing touchdowns in his last five games.

“I think all of our receivers have done an excellent job of getting into the secondary or getting on some of the guys that are tight to the line of scrimmage,” Patriots offensive lineman Matt Light said. “[They have thrown] some key blocks to free the running backs to get to the second level. As a lineman, when you have a guy like Wes [Welker], who is not the biggest receiver we’ve had around here, flies around and throws his body in front of people. That’s a lot of fun. Our crew has done a great job all season.”

Welker said that the receivers take a lot of pride in blocking.

Posted by Rob Lee  at 8:30 PM | Permalink