Titans' d-lineman sees weakness of Patriots

There's quote from someone who will be going up against the Patriots new offensive line this weekend that's been floating around the net.

Patriots fans have taken notice of the offensive line's struggles, at this point it might even be an overexposed story. Yet the fans and media aren't the only ones who saw Brady and his backups take one too many hits, the Titans saw it too.

“Just seeing what he’s been doing over the years, you usually don’t see him get hit that much,” defensive tackle Sen’Derrick Marks said. “You just see him leading the league in passing or being one of the top three, so (the preseason) has been kind of unusual."

The offensive line is possibly the only major question on this Patriots team. It's also a pretty major one, which is why it gets talked about so much. Tom Brady is one of, if not the best quarterbacks in the league...when he has time to throw.

For all the talk of the Pats adding a deep threat receiver in Brandon Lloyd this year, Brady's not going to be able to have that time very often if things don't improve from the preseason.

“We have to look at that as a foundation for us to build off of," said Marks. "We are always going to try and take advantage of the weakness. Just by watching a little film of what’s been happening in the preseason, they have a couple of weaknesses and we’re going to try and exploit it.”

Still, with all the negative attention the line has gotten, the Patriots are confident. The Patriots offensive line will definitely look worse on Sunday than it will in December. There has been a big shift on the line, with Mankins, Vollmer and Connolly being the most experienced members left protecting Brady. Rest assured, the line play is going to improve as the line works with each other longer.

"The main thing is you do your job and trust them to do theirs and everything will be fine," said Mankins. "It's when we start worrying about the guys next to you is doing is when things get messed up.

It's the three of us seeing it through the same set of eyes. There should only be one call, and that's the right call. If we start making too many calls, and guys are saying too many things that we don't need out there, it gets guys confused. We have to be on the same page and trust that call and everyone do what it says."

The offensive line actually seemed to improve as preseason went on, and it was never on the field at full strength with both Mankins and Vollmer being limited. It's dangerous to read too much into preseason but the fact is that the Patriots have put on tape that teams can get after Brady. The Titans have a very talented defensive front, and they're going to try their best to exploit this perceived weakness.

We know Mankins will be ready, let's hope the rest of them are.