FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – New England’s pass routes may be a little quicker this week.
The Patriots’ receivers know the best way they can help quarterback Tom Brady this week is by getting open in a hurry because he may not have a lot of time to find them.
The Patriots (5-2) are at home Sunday against the New York Giants, who lead the NFL with 26 sacks.
“They’re one of the best pass rushes around,” New England receiver Wes Welker said. “Getting open with quickness, and making sure that we try and tire those guys out as much as possible is going to help us.”
New England allowed three sacks last week in a loss at Pittsburgh. While the Steelers have one of the top overall defenses in the NFL, nobody gets to the quarterback like the Giants.
Jason Pierre-Paul is fifth in the league with 8.5 and Osi Umenyiora is also in the Top 10 with six — after missing the first three games with a knee injury.
“They do everything. They mix in the pressures,” offensive lineman Brian Waters said Friday. “They’re a good enough group to get it done on their own. They’re a good enough group to just rush the four guys. And they’ve got a number of sacks on rushing three.”
The Giants needed to rally from a 14-3 deficit last week to beat winless Miami, 20-17. But New York did hold Miami to 246 yards of offense and only 101 came off passes.
New York’s only glitch has been stopping the run. The Giants rank 28th in rushing defense and 21st in points allowed.
But the Patriots hardly consider the Giants to be vulnerable.
“Hopefully we can move the ball and score points. You tell me what they’re going to be in. They come and line up 10 guys on the line of scrimmage, I don’t think we want to run the ball,” New England Coach Bill Belichick said.
“What we do will in part depend on what they do.”
GIANTS: Running back Ahmad Bradshaw doesn’t need surgery to repair a broken bone in his right foot.
CHARGERS: Backup running back Curtis Brinkley returned to practice, his first session since sustaining a concussion Monday night at Kansas City.
BUCCANEERS: Tampa Bay activated long snapper Andrew Economos from the reserve/non-football injury list and released safety David Sims.
BROWNS: Running back Peyton Hillis re-injured left hamstring in practice, making his return after missing two games unlikely.
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