Patriots will evaluate center position as they go

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The Patriots have lost center David Andrews for the year, and they now have to scramble to address an underrated position on the offensive side of the ball.

“[T]hat’s an important position,” coach Bill Belichick told reporters on Sunday. “The relationship between the center and the quarterback is of course an important one. So Ted [Karras has] done that. He’s been here four years and he’s played a couple games two years ago that David missed. But we’ll see how things work out with the other players on the roster, some of which have just been acquired, and I’ll see how it all fits together.

“I’m not sure exactly how this will turn out. Again, we haven’t seen three of the players that are on our roster ever run a play in a Patriots uniform. So we’ll evaluate it as we go.”

One of those new players is former Bills center Russell Bodine, who recently arrived via trade.

“Russell’s had a solid career and quite a bit of experience playing center for Cincinnati and then most recently for Buffalo,” Belichick said. “He’s also played guard in the past, so we’ll see how it goes with the three lineman that we acquired over the past few days. We’ll just see how it all works out, but he’s — at this point — one of the more experienced players on our team in terms of NFL experience. So, we’ll see how all of that comes together.”

If it comes together the way it usually comes together for the Patriots, it will come together just fine. Sure, there will be questions and concerns and maybe some early-season losses that will spark several news cycles featuring breatheless declarations that the Patriots are finally over.

Maybe if folks haven’t learned the lesson by now maybe they never will. The Patriots, under Belichick, know how to find their way to wherever they need to go. The fact that they’ve played in four of the last five Super Bowls confirms it.

Maybe if the Patriots run that streak to five of the last six, people will finally buy in.