Chase Winovich Makes Case For Expanded Role, More Playing Time For Patriots Defense

By Matthew Geagan, CBS Boston BOSTON (CBS) — Through the deluge and all of those bodies crashing into each other throughout Sunday night’s Patriots win over the Ravens, you probably noticed that you were seeing a lot of Chase Winovich. Normally it’s not a big deal when you see a lot of a football player playing football, but for Winovich, playing time has been no guarantee this season. The edge man/linebacker has never been an every-down player for the New England defense in his brief career with the Patriots, but it was alarming to see Winovich become a barely-any-down player over the last month. His drastic decline in playing time was attributed to New England’s game-plan defense, and during those weeks, Wino just wasn’t in the team’s plans. But given New England’s lack of depth at inside linebacker and Baltimore’s run-heavy offense, Winovich was very much in the plans Sunday evening. And the second-year player delivered with an impressive evening, showing everyone that he is up to the challenge to not only play every down, but also fill in on the inside of the defense. Winovich played 65 snaps during Sunday’s 23-17 win, on the field for 98 percent of New England’s defensive plays. He was not just a situational pass-rusher — the role he’s served the most of his year-and-a-half in the NFL — but played off the ball against the Baltimore run. He finished the night with seven tackles — including...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: NFL Patriots Sports Syndicated Sports Chase Winovich New England Patriots Patriots Defense Sports News Source Type: news