When starting safety Rodney Harrison suffered a season-ending thigh injury Oct. 20 against the Denver Broncos, the question was if Brandon Meriweather could fill the void.

It turns out the 2007 first-round draft choice has filled it to the rim.

In a statistic that reflects how Meriweather has become a steadying presence in the Patriots' secondary, he hasn't just started all eight games since Harrison's injury, he has played every snap, a string of 493 plays (including penalties).

It has been a major jump for the 24-year-old Meriweather, who didn't start a regular-season game in his rookie campaign and earlier this season was the team's first defensive back off the bench.

His performance was lauded by coach Bill Belichick yesterday.

"He's certainly come a long way as a player in these two seasons and it just continues to get better," Belichick said. "He's a really dependable guy, smart, and makes very few errors back there in the secondary - not just himself but also in terms of his overall communication back there with the group. He's playing with a lot of confidence and I think we have a lot of confidence in him because of the way he's playing."

Coaches have credited Meriweather with 70 tackles, tied for third on the team.

Belichick said Meriweather has really improved on working closer to the line of scrimmage. That was a Harrison specialty, as he attacked the physical challenge of taking on bigger blockers to assist against the run, but also had speed to protect the middle and deep parts of the field.

Meriweather (5 feet 11 inches, 200 pounds) has also been utilized more as a coverage player, such as when he lined up in the slot against four-receiver packages against the St. Louis Rams Oct. 26.

"Through the course of the season, he's been asked to do a lot of different things and he just really has improved in all of them," Belichick said. "I think he's having a good year."

Meriweather, who estimated he dropped about six would-be interceptions last season, believes his ball skills are one area he has improved from his rookie campaign (he has a team-high four interceptions). He's had few, if any, physical problems from the expanded role.

"I've always tried to be one of the best-conditioned guys on the team," Meriweather said. "My comfort level is pretty high right now. I'm having fun playing the game."

(boston.com)

Brandon Meriweather, S, New England. This is the kind of breakout game that can launch a player's career. Six tackles -- three of them behind the line of scrimmage -- plus one sack, two passes defensed and the most important forced fumble of his two-year career. With 1:56 left in the fourth quarter, he leaped over the line to sack Seneca Wallace, forcing the fumble that essentially ended the game. With injuries already battering the defense, and Vince Wilfork, Tedy Bruschi and James Sanders leaving the game with more of them, young guys like Meriweather have to come through for this team to make it to January.

Ray Lewis, LB, Baltimore. When will he slow down? 2014? The more I watch the Ravens, the more I marvel at his staying power -- and not just the staying power to hang around. He's excelling the same way he was in the Ravens' Super Bowl year, and he's leading the same way too -- at 33, in his 13th season. In the 24-10 beatdown of the Redskins (it could have been much worse), Lewis had 13 tackles (three for loss), two quarterback hits and a 13-yard sack.

(cnnsi.com)

Ronde Barber has put up some huge numbers recently, but Meriweather's production is more sustainable. He has posted double-digit tackle totals in two of the past three games. In between, he paired six total stops with his fourth interception of the season.


(sportingnews.com)

The Patriots appear to have dodged a bullet with the leg injury to safety Brandon Meriweather.

A league source said Meriweather should be 100 percent by the season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs Sept. 7. However, he could be done playing for the preseason. After the Patriots face the Eagles, they conclude the preseason schedule with a road game against the New York Giants Aug. 28.

The second-year safety was injured on the initial drive of Friday's game, limping off following a 2-yard run by Warrick Dunn. It appeared that Meriweather was hurt on the previous play, when he tackled Dunn at the conclusion of a 7-yard rush and had defensive end Richard Seymour land on top of him.

(boston.com)

Tampa -- Patriots second-year defensive back Brandon Meriweather went down with an apparent leg injury with 6:55 remaining in the first quarter.

Meriweather tried to limp off the field on his own power but ultimately he had to be helped off the field by two trainers.

If the injury is serious it could be a big blow to an already depleted secondary. Defensive backs Jason Webster, Jonathan Wilhite, Lewis Sanders, James Sanders, and Rodney Harrison were not out on the field for warmups before the game started.

(beloblog.com)

FOXBOROUGH - There has been a new sound emanating from the Patriots' defense this year, one that has caught the ears of everyone from coach Bill Belichick to linebacker Tedy Bruschi to safety Rodney Harrison.

It is coming from Brandon Meriweather, who has been shouting instructions from the secondary with confidence and authority.

Off the field, the second-year safety has a soft-spoken timbre. He's polite, unassuming, and almost timid, but on the field his teammates have noticed a difference both in Meriweather's communication skills and his play. The 24-year-old, who struggled to be heard from at times during his rookie year, has been making noise in training camp - both literally and figuratively - emerging as one of the team's breakout players after the first week.

With the contracts of Harrison and safety James Sanders set to expire after this season, Meriweather finding both his voice and his place in the secondary couldn't come at a better time for Belichick and vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli.

"I think he made a lot of improvement last year during the course of the year," said Belichick. "He had a good offseason. He had a good spring. I think he's much better than he was last year at this time, as you would expect, and he continues to improve on a regular basis."

Meriweather has not only become a better communicator; he's become a better interceptor. The 5-foot-11-inch, 200-pounder watched balls clank off his hands last year, including one that could have potentially clinched a victory in the Super Bowl.

In response, he spent the offseason catching passes fired by defensive line coach Pepper Johnson and catapulted from a JUGS machine, and doing reaction drills he learned from former Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel, to improve his hands.

The difference has been noticeable, as Meriweather has intercepted two passes already in camp, including a juggling effort Wednesday.

"Every one you catch you get a little bit more confidence in yourself, and you start to put stuff behind you," said Meriweather. "So, every one that I get to put my hands on that I actually come up with, it's just going to be that much more of a confidence booster."

Confidence was something Meriweather lacked for much of last season as he tried to get acclimated to the NFL. After being selected with the 24th overall pick in the draft, the former University of Miami star was miscast as a cornerback. With Samuel refusing to sign his franchise tender at this time last year, Meriweather was projected as his potential replacement.

That seemed to stunt his growth, as he had trouble learning the cornerback, slot corner, and safety positions in the playbook. However, Meriweather came on down the stretch last season, when he was employed in more of a safety role as a nickel (five defensive backs) or dime (six defensive backs) defender. He finished the season with 16 tackles and three passes defended and earned his first career start in the Super Bowl.
Belichick said that with Meriweather's increased confidence, he is playing faster. Returning to safety, the position he primarily played at Miami, seems to have brought out the best in him.

"To be honest, I just play whatever my coaches ask me to. It's not really a comfort level with safety," said Meriweather. "It's more of me just knowing what to do and how to do it."

And now he's letting everybody know it. In fact, sometimes Meriweather has been too boisterous.

"I even had to tell him to shut up because he was trying to tell me how to do my job," joked Harrison. "It's nice to see [from] Brandon. Obviously, he's a very talented young man. He's worked extremely hard this last year, and as he gets older and his role increases, he's going . . . to become more vocal, and he's definitely becoming a leader out there."

Where has Meriweather's newfound talkativeness come from?

"Being confident," said Meriweather. "Confidence in your playbook and confidence in the players around you. Having confidence in and knowing that what you're saying is right."

Meriweather feels he has something to prove after a less-than-riveting rookie season. His career will always be followed closely because the draft pick the Patriots used to select him was acquired when they shipped wide receiver Deion Branch to the Seattle Seahawks.

Meriweather spent part of the offseason picking the brain of another former Hurricanes safety who went 24th overall, Baltimore Ravens All-Pro Ed Reed.

"Just to talk to him is a blessing. Ed Reed is a good friend and everything I can learn from him, I am," said Meriweather.

Meriweather may never reach the level of play of Reed or Harrison, two of the biggest talkers and best safeties in the game, but he's no longer afraid to speak up.

But as vociferous as Meriweather has become on the field, he was at a loss for words to explain how different this training camp feels from his rookie year.

"I can't put that into words. It's a totally different Brandon right now," he said.

(boston.com)

FOXBORO - Brandon Meriweather was a first-round pick by the Patriots [team stats] in 2007 who had the advantage last year of learning the ins and outs of playing NFL defense from veterans including cornerback Asante Samuel [stats].

But Samuel has moved on as a free agent to Philadelphia, and it was only natural that Meriweather, a second-year defensive back, was asked yesterday if he would miss his former teammate.

Meriweather looks at Samuel’s departure philosophically. As a friend, yes, absolutely, Meriweather was going to miss Samuel. But in the ever-evolving world of the NFL, it was stretching things to suggest he was going to “miss” a guy who signed for big money with the Eagles.

“It’s going to be a little different, but at the same time we have new players and every year on every team there are new players,” he said. “That’s really it.”

But substitute “player” with “friend,” and Meriweather takes a different attitude.

“Asante’s a good friend of mine,” he said. “We’re both from South Florida. He’s a great player and all, but he’s also a great person . . . of course I miss him as a person. But this is a job, and he had to go handle his business.”

During his talk with the media yesterday, Meriweather was asked if he agreed with Pats coach Bill Belichick’s assessment that players often show their greatest improvement in their second season. Meriweather responded by making a run at the world record for most usages of the term “opportunity knocking” without stopping for air.

“Opportunity is knocking,” he said. “It’s not just because I’m a second-year player I feel like opportunity is knocking. Last year, opportunity was knocking. Year before that . . . whenever you’re a part of something, opportunity is knocking.”

Asked if he has watched a tape of the Patriots’ 17-14 loss to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII, he replied, “Not yet,” then he added, “I think that’s a good game to learn from. But right now, the primary focus is on this year, and the focus is on getting better.”

Talking a bit more about the Super Bowl loss, Meriweather said one thing he learned was “capitalize on mistakes. I think me, myself, personally that’s something I need to do better . . . the little things, the details, and capitalize on other mistakes.”

“Right now,” he said, “my challenge is to learn my playbook and get good chemistry with my teammates.”

(bostonherald.com)

FOXBOROUGH - As the Patriots prepare for the NFL draft (April 26-27), last year's first-round pick, defensive back Brandon Meriweather, is preparing for an increased role in 2008.

The question is, where? Cornerback or safety?

The 24-year-old Meriweather, who was selected 24th, had an up-and-down rookie campaign, bouncing between cornerback and safety. He began training camp playing cornerback, both outside and in the slot, when Asante Samuel was holding out. He overtook Eugene Wilson late in the season as the third safety in the dime package (six defensive backs) and ended the season by making his first start, as a nickelback in Super Bowl XLII.

Pinpointing where Meriweather, who was credited with 16 tackles in 16 games last season, will play in the secondary could provide a clue to the Patriots' draft plans. With the departures of Pro Bowl cornerback Samuel and third cornerback Randall Gay, the Patriots need a player at that position, one of the deepest in the draft. And judging by the combination of the 5-foot-11-inch Meriweather's buffer physique this offseason and his play last season, safety seems his destination.

However, neither he nor the Patriots are tipping their hands.

"I'm preparing to be a football player," said Meriweather, who got a jump-start on offseason conditioning by training with fellow University of Miami football alums Santana Moss of the Washington Redskins, Reggie Wayne of the Indianapolis Colts, and Ed Reed of the Baltimore Ravens, among others, on the Miami campus.

"I'm not trying to go in thinking whether I'm a safety or a corner or whether I'm a kicker or quarterback. I'm just going in to be an athlete. Whatever my team needs, I'll do."

Asked if he could replace Samuel or Gay, Meriweather toed the company line - whatever is in the best interest of the team.

"I feel like this is a great organization, and everything they do is for the best of the team, so whatever they're going to do is going to be strictly up to Coach Bill [Belichick], so if you really want that question answered, you have to ask Bill."

Belichick said yesterday Meriweather's position will not dictate the team's draft strategy.

"Whoever we have on our team, we have. Whoever is in the draft is in the draft, and we'll take the players that best suit our team," Belichick said. "I'd say Brandon is a versatile player. I'm sure he'll have a variety of jobs going forward. How that plays out, we'll wait and see on that when we get to the spring camps and training camp. But he's a good player. He'll help our football team. Hopefully, we'll draft somebody who will also be able to help our team. That's our goal."

Meriweather said there was no eureka moment last season, just a lot of hard work and the nurturing of the coaching staff. He met often with Belichick and was pushed hard in practice by defensive coordinator Dean Pees.

"I just had to grow up. I just had to learn how to be a pro on the run," said Meriweather. "I had to learn the little things about how to practice and how to continue to work hard even when you're tired, how to look over things that really don't matter, how to take coaching, how to watch film and get something out of it instead of watching film just to watch it as a game.

"There were a lot of things I had to learn from college to the pros, and it just took me a little longer than it usually takes other people."
Whatever position he plays, Meriweather said he will be more confident.

After a slow start last season in which he played primarily on special teams, Meriweather was featured in the dime (as a safety) during the Monday night miracle in Baltimore in Week 13. He was a steady contributor in extra defensive back packages the rest of the way, while continuing to play on special teams. He finished tied for second on the team with 18 special teams tackles.

As a measure of how far he progressed, Meriweather was on the field for the final drive by the Giants in the Super Bowl. He had a chance to be a hero. Three plays after Samuel failed to snare a game-sealing interception, Meriweather had an Eli Manning pass clang off his hands, one of a handful of potential interceptions he dropped last season.

Meriweather's hands of stone made him the target of taunts from his teammates. The owner of seven career interceptions at Miami, but none in the NFL, Meriweather has worked hard to rediscover his dexterity.

"Yeah," said Meriweather, chuckling. "I've been doing a lot of Jugs machines and some catching [drills] with the defensive backs up here, me, James [Sanders], and all of us who work out together do a lot of catching after we run. It's little things. I kind of walk around with a football at night; you might catch me walking around with a football just to keep my hands warmed up to it. I do a lot of little things. I'm trying to go back to the technique days, back when I was little and I had to work on catching."

Improving his ability to catch shouldn't be that hard for Meriweather, who has already proven he can juggle positions.

(boston.com)

A quick glance at the Patriots' depth chart at cornerback reveals just how poor the situation is. The two players penciled in as starters, Ellis Hobbs and Bills castoff Jason Webster, are undersized, injury-prone and marginal players. According to one team insider, the situation could be considerably aided by the move of Brandon Meriweather from safety to corner. An '07 first-round pick, Meriweather had a rough rookie season, appearing lost and physically unprepared to meet the demands of the NFL. In fairness to him, part of his problem was a coaching blunder of starting him out at corner, then moving him back to safety ? the position he starred at during his collegiate career at Miami (Fla.) ? thereby stunting his absorption of the playbook. But a permanent move to corner appears to be the best approach. He's exceptionally quick and has very good speed but isn't nearly the physical hitter that the Patriots covet at safety.

(profootballweekly.com)