David Andrews is Released from the Hospital and I'm Told He Visited the Stadium. So What Now?

So the good news on David Andrews is that he’s been released from the hospital. And from what I’ve heard from a reliable source is that he actually showed up at Gillette this morning to meet with his teammates and staff, which is just about as positive a step as one could hope for at this point, short of them finding out his blood clots were just a coffee spill on the X-rays or something. The bad news is obvious: That it’s way too early to know what his condition is and he and Mrs. Andrews are going to have to wait for the results before there is any sort of a prognosis.

I’d love to leave at that. And were Andrews still in a hospital bed getting blood drawn, I’d probably feel like it’s sort of morbid to be talking about what the Patriots do going forward. Especially when we are talking about a man this beautiful:

With a record of accomplishments like this:

Bear in mind that he’s missed a total of four games in four seasons. And the team’s record in those games is just 2-2.

But the season is coming. We’ve all got jobs to do. The coaches have to make plans. Those footballs aren’t going to snap themselves to Brady. A contingency plan must be devised. Somebody’s got to blog about it. And I’m just the man to do it. David Andrews would expect nothing less, I’m sure.

To begin with, there is no one, plug-and-play backup at the center position to automatically get inserted into the starting lineup at a moment like this. Or really at any spot on the roster other than quarterback. It’s times like this where the Patriots philosophy of building depth with position-versatile guys pays off. They do it all over the field, but nowhere it is more vital than in the trenches on both sides of the ball.

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Their center depth chart lists two names behind Andrews, James Ferentz and Ted Karras. Just to get the trivia out of the way because you’ll be hearing it nonstop during the games until such time as Andrews is back to 60 snaps per game, both are Legacies in the NFL fraternity. Ferentz’ father is Kirk of Iowa and his brother is their offensive coordinator, Brian. And Karras’ great-uncle was Alex, who played the Alpha and Omega of comedy: Webster’s dad and Pawn in Game of Life, Mongo:

We were saying about position versatility?

Anyway, in the last few years, the Patriots have put a huge investment into the interior line, signing Andrews and Ferentz, drafting Karras and using four selections in the top 131 picks of the draft on those spots just since 2015, including rookie Hjalte Froholdt and starting guards Joe Thuney and Shaq Mason. THESE guards:

And how has Pro Football Focus graded Ferentz and Karras in their limited reps these last couple of years? Pre-tay, pret-tay good.

Karras among the guards, actually slightly higher than Thuney:

And Ferentz among the centers, lower than Andrews but still a respectable 19th best in the league:

And both with Grade: A rankings.

Finally, put them in the continued good care of this magnificent SOB, the one gift that Ron Meyer (the biggest asshole to ever coach the Patriots) gave us an inheritance to his incompetent reign back in 1983:

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So there’s every reason to be confident the middle of the Patriots line will be OK. That Brady will have his interior protection, Sony Michel, Rex Burkhead and Damien Harris will have their holes to run through, and James White will have someone upfield blocking for them, approaching the level they got from Andrews.

That is, until he gets back. If there’s any justice in the world, a guy as popular and respected as David Andrews deserves to keep playing.