Hours Before Kickoff: Preseason Four

When CB Terrence Wheatley walked off the Gillette Stadium field last Thursday with a couple of trainers, it crossed my mind it would be for the last time as a Patriot for Wheatley. But his chance of sticking around went up with CB Leigh Bodden going down.

As one of the handful of moves needed to get the roster down to the 75 player limit, Bodden was placed on injured reserve for the 2010 season with a shoulder injury. That takes away the secondary’s doyen from a unit that averages just 2.5 years experience without Bodden.

The back four was going to be under pressure to begin with this season. Playing behind a front seven that needs to blitz to pressure the quarterback will leave the secondary in a lot of one-on-one situations. Without blitzing, the secondary will have to cover receivers for five or more seconds as the passer stands in the pocket as if surrounded by a force field.

It’s a costly loss for New England. Bodden was the top corner on the team and was expected to start on the left side, drawing the toughest assignment frequently. Now the starters likely will be second year Darius Butler and rookie Devin McCourty.

Besides taking a chunk out of the team’s depth, losing Bodden and the experience he could share with the young corners on the team will be costly. The little things Leigh notices during the course of the game that he could share with the youngsters would be invaluable. The insights Bodden would recognize can’t always been seen by the safeties.

It will be a very challenging season for the corners, starting with Cincinnati’s WRs Chad Ochocino and Terrell Owens in the season opener. That’s followed by the New York Jets’ Braylon Edwards and Jerricho Cotchery, and later Santonio Holmes for the December rematch. They will also have to deal with Miami’s Brandon Marshall twice, Detroit’s Calvin Johnson, Baltimore’s Anquan Boldin, and two top six passing offenses from last year in Houston (6^th) and Green Bay (2^nd).

If the secondary doesn’t lose confidence, they will learn from this season and be better for it, maybe even showing signs of improvement by the second half of the season. But this year’s growing pains could be excruciating.

A few things I’m looking for in the preseason finale:

Red Cross – DE Ty Warren, OL Nick Kaczur, and now Bodden, could miss the entire season. Just come out of this game healthy.

Uh-oh Line – This could be the best defensive line the Patriots offense encounters this preseason. They looked good overall, but this will be their greatest challenge.

Auditions – For the fringe players, they get their best chance to impress the 31 other teams for a roster spot or practice squad.