FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The last time New England Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount faced the Houston Texans, it was Dec. 13, 2015, and he was knocked out by a hip injury that ultimately ended his season.
He has returned in 2016 with some of his trademark "Blount force trauma", as his ability to grind out tough yards late in Sunday's 31-24 victory was critical. In addition to hurdling Dolphins cornerback Byron Maxwell, Blount was again a physical force.
So what does Bill Belichick notice as a difference between the Blount that faced the Texans last December and the player who is off to a strong start in 2016?
"The big thing that’s contributed to it is that he has had some space to run," Belichick said. "There were a lot of plays, too many plays last year, where it didn’t matter who the back was, we just couldn’t get him started, couldn’t get him into any kind of space, couldn’t let the back build up any kind of momentum.
"I think all our backs have the ability to make yards. They’ve all been productive. We’ve seen it in preseason, we’ve seen it through the years with some of these guys, depending on which guy you want to talk about, but we had to give him a chance. You’ve got to give them a chance to have some type of opportunity to operate with some space or momentum, just something. No back can gain yardage when there’s just no place to run. I don’t care how good the guy is."
The improved blocking that Belichick notes ties to the return of offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia, who in some ways serves as the team's run-game coordinator.
After Sunday's win, Blount was also complimentary.
"The offensive line played amazing. They opened up a lot of big holes for me to run through," he said. "They’ve done everything they’ve needed to do to make sure they can go out there and perform and do their assignments correctly, and when they do that, it’s easy to run behind them."
