Patriots special teamer Cody Davis has gone on injured reserve, and coach Bill Belichick says that’s a big loss in New England.
Davis plays on field goals, punts and punt returns, kickoffs and kickoff returns. Belichick says neither the Patriots nor any other team can easily replace a player like that.
“With a player like Cody, you lose that player on five different units,” Belichick said. “Each unit has its own dynamics, each unit has its own responsibility with what he does. No team has a player that can replace a player like that. So it would have to be some type of multiples. You don’t just plug in a guy and get what Cody Davis has given us. . . . It’s five replacements that you have to come up with, and that’s part of the challenge of special teams. . . . Cody is a player it’s really impossible to replace one-for-one, so it’s going to have to be some maneuvering and shuffling.”
Belichick devotes more resources to special teams than most coaches do, often keeping multiple players on the roster just for what they can do in kick coverage, even if they don’t play offense or defense. Davis is one of those players, and he’s a tough player to replace.