Alfonzo Dennard Probation Hearing Bumped to September 6

The news that Alfonzo Dennard's probation hearing was bumped from August 26 (which was this past Monday) to September 6th could potentially put the Patriots in a pickle.

That date, which is a week from Friday, falls after the deadline to cut the roster down to 53 players (Saturday), but only two days from the Patriots season opening game against Buffalo. This means Bill Belichick will have to cut down his roster without knowing if one of his starting cornerbacks is available.

The problems this creates are exacerbated by the teams lack of depth at corner. If Dennard is unavailable (which is a legitimate possibility), Kyle Arrington would slide into his #2 corner spot across from Aqib Talib. Arrington is decent for a nickle cornerback, but he has largely struggled in coverage whenever he has started on the outside. With a schedule that features the Bucs (Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams), Falcons (Roddy White, Julio Jones), Bengals (AJ Green) and Saints (Marques Colston, Jimmy Graham), the prospect of Arrington starting is troubling.

Things get even uglier behind Arrington. With Ras-I Dowling unceremoniously cut only two years after being taken with the first pick of the second round, rookie Logan Ryan would likely be called on to be the team's nickle corner if Dennard can't play. Ryan has played a ton of snaps this preseason and the results have been encouraging, but with practically all of his game reps against second stringers (the guys he saw against the Lions were "first stringers" in name only), it's impossible to tell if he's ready for this much responsibility yet.

He better be. Behind Ryan is a special teams guy (Marquice Cole) and no one else. Devin McCourty is available as a "break in case of emergency" option, but it's an unappealing option It's a position that could really use another guy brought in to provide some reliable depth, even if none of the team's options on the open market are all that appealing. Perhaps they can find a diamond in the rough somewhere to help out.

Of course, these problems are much less alarming if Dennard is found not guilty of violating his probation and allowed to rejoin the team for Week One. It's impossible to predict, but there is certainly a chance Dennard escapes with just a slap on the wrist (again). The second-year cornerback never blew over the legal limit when he was pulled over, and was arrested because the arresting officers determined that he "didn't blow hard enough". A source close to Dennard told the Boston Globe's Ben Volin that Dennard had only drank two beers and had taken a nap before driving to his girlfriend's house that night; if true, it would be almost impossible for Dennard to be above the legal driving limit of 0.08.

Speculation has arisen that the police were targeting Dennard in an attempt to get payback for his prior history (For those who are unaware, Dennard was arrested a week before the 2012 draft for assaulting a police officer who attempted to break up a bar fight the Nebraska star was involved in). If the jury takes this suspicion into account, Dennard likely walks. With Dennard playing with Talib, things suddenly look much better for the secondary.

The trouble is, no one knows what will happen, and we wont know until the season is just about to start. How will this effect the roster decisions Belichick will face this weekend? Do they bring in veteran depth? Does the need for corner depth cost them a veteran like Michael Hoomanawanui, Leon Washington or (gasp!) Tim Tebow? Stay tuned to find out.