FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- In running back Shane Vereen's mind, there was no way the New England Patriots could just simply replace Stevan Ridley.
With their lead back lost for the season as a result of a reported ACL/MCL tear, the only thing Vereen felt he could do was play in Ridley's honor. And in doing so he played a key role in the Patriots' 27-25 win over the New York Jets on Thursday night.
Vereen was on the receiving end of two touchdown passes from Tom Brady, punctuating the first one with Ridley's typical "kick in the door" celebration in the end zone as a tribute to his injured teammate.
"It's like losing a brother in the family. It's tough," Vereen said. "You can't ever replace anybody like that, but what you can do is go out there and just play as hard as you can for him because that's exactly what he would want.
"When a brother goes down it takes a toll on everybody, especially the running back core. We're so tight. I just tried to play for him."
In what was expected to be an open rotation with other active running backs Jonas Gray and Brandon Bolden, Vereen ended up running away with the job. He played 48 snaps to Gray's 12 and Bolden's one, rushing for 43 yards on 11 carries and leading the Patriots offense with 71 receiving yards on five receptions.
"They're a good defense," Vereen said of the Jets. "They're a good defensive front, they're big and strong up front. That's how they're built. We knew it was going to be tough running the ball, we tried to stick some runs in there when we could. It was enough to win."
On the fourth play of the game, the Jets' defensive coverage broke down, leaving Vereen wide open down the sideline for a 49-yard touchdown pass that he needed to extend fully to pull in. After crossing the goal line, Vereen jumped up to kick in the door like Ridley, something Vereen said he was planning to do if he was able to make it into the end zone.
"I think as a whole offense we knew that we needed to step up," Vereen said. "You can't replace Stevan. He's a great player and a great running back, I learned a lot from him. Everyone needs to step up, and everyone needs to do a bigger part."
Vereen's second touchdown came in the second quarter on a 3-yard pass to Brady's left that gave the Patriots their second score of the game. Despite the two touchdowns and solid game overall, Vereen said he expects the starting running back job to continue to be a week-to-week thing depending on matchups.
"Each game is different," he said. "Even during the game things are changed, adjustments are made. We knew we were going to be rotating, we knew a couple of guys were going to be getting in there. We were going to be switching groups up. Whenever your number is called, just be ready to go."
Vereen was surely ready to go Thursday night. And part of that was undoubtedly the result of responding to the tough blow dealt to the team by Ridley's injury.
"I think it was huge," Vereen said. "Just to show Stevan that he can relax and that we've got his back more than anything. We came together as a team more so than we have in our past couple of games and we played really well."
