Meriweather no longer a starter

When you think of great Bill Belichick defenses, the current New England Patriots D isn’t one of them. The Patriots have been struggling on defense for a while now as they’ve mixed in kids, middle-of-the-road journeymen and ancient veterans over the past few years.

One player they thought they got right was Brandon Meriweather, the safety they took in the first round in 2007. He was a Pro Bowler last year, but now he comes off the bench.

Apparently, he “freelances” too much, and James Sanders has been the guy in there starting the last few weeks.

“Of course I made mistakes but as for me not being on the field every play, that’s up to the coaches not just me,” Meriweather said Friday.

He was then asked whether he’s irritated that he has to come off the bench.

“My business has nothing to do with whether it pisses me off or not,” Meriweather said wisely.

Belichick is much like a writer who doesn’t want the actors to ad lib anything, because his script is so god damned funny on its own.

“There are things that happen on any given play that aren’t quite the way that they are drawn up, and football players have to do the right thing within the context of their responsibility,” Belichick said.

Meriweather will probably get his job back when he learns to do things the way they are drawn up on the board. Or not.