FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – It’s never easy being a rookie in the NFL. It’s even tougher when in your first NFL game, you’re playing out of position and being charged with making sure Tom Brady stays upright.
Tackle Nate Solder, a first-round draft pick out of Colorado, has been impressive in training camp and preseason for the Patriots. Now, with starting right tackle Sebastian Vollmer missing practice again Friday and expected to be sidelined for Monday night’s game against the Miami Dolphins, Solder figures to move from his usual left tackle position to the right side.
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He said he’s ready for the challenge, although “I don’t know exactly what’s been going on with (Vollmer’s injury), but I’m going to play wherever they need me to play.”
Solder mostly has played left tackle. It’s not always an easy thing to switch sides.
“There’s different techniques,” New England Coach Bill Belichick said Friday. “Playing from inside-out and keeping your weight on your inside foot in pass protection or reach blocking, working with different people — the right guard instead of the left guard. Tight ends are tight ends; they flip sides, but working with different guys next to you in games and blocking combinations, things like that.”
Belichick said Solder has looked good when the Patriots lined him up on the right side.
“Nate’s a pretty versatile guy. He’s very flexible,” Belichick said. “Athletically, he has good footwork and he seems pretty comfortable wherever we put him.”
To Solder, football is football — to a degree.
“A lot of things carry over from college but I’m learning so much each day,” he said.
Vollmer’s injury leaves the Patriots thin at tackle behind starters Matt Light and Solder, and the entire offensive line has been a bit banged-up.
Dan Connolly and Ryan Wendell have been hurt but practicing. Recent addition Brian Waters appears to be fitting in well, although Belichick was noncommittal whether he will play Monday.
Belichick said he expects to dress seven or eight offensive lineman against the Dolphins.
NOTES: Although the Patriots have fared much better in Miami in recent years, beating the Dolphins 41-14 last Oct. 4 at Sun Life Stadium, the Dolphins still hold a 33-13 all-time edge in Miami.
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