Throughout the first two weeks on NFL play, the New England Patriots carried a healthy offensive line.
This helped Cam Newton rush for four touchdowns over that span, along with throwing nearly 400 yards in Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks. One domino in that group may fall on Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders. Standout center David Andrews dealt with a hand injury this week and has sat out practice, with his status unclear for the game.
The next-best option would be 2019 fourth-round pick, Hjalte Froholdt, who missed the entire season after getting put on the injured reserve list. He’s been active for the Patriots’ first two games this year, but only seen snaps during special teams.
Bill Belichick gave a glowing update on Froholdt during his press conference on Friday morning.
“Hjalte’s had a good offseason. He had an opportunity to get a lot of reps last year in training camp but then that was really about it for him,” Belichick said. “He was rehabbed early and was really ready by January, February to get a good full offseason in in terms of training and so forth even though we weren’t able to do it (at Gillette Stadium). He’s a hard-working kid who did a lot on his own. So he had a good offseason in terms of training and being healthy. He’s been able to be out on the field every day and work hard and continue to get better on a daily basis since we’ve had the opportunity to begin practicing.
“So he’s way ahead of where he was last year on a number of levels and still a young player that has a lot of room to grow. Works very hard at it. He’s taken a step to being close to playing and hopefully he’ll be able to compete for playing time here as he continues to improve.”
Froholdt played three games at center during his final season at Arkansas, but mainly spends time as a guard. He played a majority of last year’s preseason snaps on the left side.
Andrews is an essential piece in New England’s offense, but Froholdt will have to hold up if his number is called.
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