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Veteran offensive tackle Riley Reiff was brought in as a short-term solution for what has turned into a long-term problem for the New England Patriots.
With OTAs and minicamp in the rearview and the dead heat of summer training camp quickly approaching, it’s clear that the offensive tackle position could continue to be a major trouble spot for the Patriots.
The pads haven’t even come on, and per The Athletic’s Chad Graff, Reiff was already downgraded to working with the second team in the spring practices. It’s obviously no picnic of a matchup with Matthew Judon and Josh Uche coming off the edges, but the struggles at tackle are sticking out like a New York Jets jersey at Gillette Stadium.
Trent Brown being out hasn’t helped matters, either. He’s the one legitimate starter at the position the team can rely on, and he spent his one minicamp practice working on conditioning.
Graff wrote:
At least in spring practices, those decisions looked concerning. Reiff struggled so much that he was relegated to the second-team offense; Anderson and McDermott were constantly beaten by Matthew Judon and Josh Uche; left tackle Trent Brown, the lone stalwart at the position, skipped OTAs and missed the start of minicamp, then was sent to do conditioning work instead of practicing with the team.
Reiff, 34, was always going to be a long-shot option for the Patriots. The veteran offensive lineman didn’t even start in all 16 games for the Chicago Bears last season.
But the Patriots were still desperate enough to give him $4.1 million guaranteed on his contract, which was an early indication that he would play a significant role on offense. Perhaps things will settle down as he becomes more acclimated to the system at training camp.
There are few options out there for New England this late in the game. They could consider trying rookie guard Sidy Sow out at tackle, given his experience at the position in college, but there are no guarantees he’d be ready by the start of the season.
To make matters worse, the Patriots will be at the mercy of Brown’s health. If he goes down with an injury, a huge problem would quickly turn into a catastrophe.
Making a splash signing for wideout DeAndre Hopkins won’t save the Patriots if they can’t protect their quarterback.
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