Fumbles usually get blamed on the player who drops the ball. Patriots coach Mike Vrabel has a different take on that.
Asked by reporters on Monday whether running back Rhamondre Stevenson, who fumbled seven times last year, will get a “fresh, clean slate”?
“Well, everybody has a fresh, clean slate,” Vrabel said. “We like to go through those things, and some of that is technique, some of that is the second guy in. A lot of times on fumbles, if you want to talk fumbles and ball security, I’m happy to do that, but one person’s got to have the ball in their hand every play offensively, and the rest of those 10 players are going to be responsible for protecting the guy with the ball. And so, yep, there were some instances where he put it on the ground, and there were some instances where the second guy came in, and we need to eliminate the second guy from coming in by the way that we play and our play demeanor and the way that we finish. So a clean slate, everybody has a clean slate, but also, there’s things that have to change and be better at every position as we move toward the season.”
It’s a great point. The more times the ballcarrier is hit, the more likely he’ll take a hit that separates the ball from his possession. And so it’s on the 10 players who don’t have the ball to keep defensive players away from the one that does.
