Bill Belichick talks Kyle Arrington and versatility

Photo from CSNNE

Kyle Arrington is not a superstar player, but he's got a nice combination of strength and athleticism that serves him well in multiple positions. And, according to CSNNE, safety is now in the mix for Kyle Arrington after he took a lot of reps at safety on Sunday. It's not a position change for Arrington, just building depth because, as Bill Belichick points out, it's necessary to have a couple players like Arrington who can play multiple positions.

“When you start getting into sub defenses where you’re playing five and six defensive backs, you can’t carry 12 defensive backs in a game so everybody has a backup for their position,” Belichick offered. “ This is the time of year in training camp where we try to work players at different positions, not to move them but to give ourselves and our team depth so when we get to a 46-man roster we’re able to sufficiently back up everybody.

“Being able to do multiple jobs and multiple things, you have to have that on your team, especially when you eliminate a lot of players on your team like the offensive linemen and the quarterbacks and the specialists and all those who really don’t factor into a lot of your offensive or defensive personnel groups or the kicking game … You have to have somebody to do those jobs, and then you have to have somebody to back those jobs up. You don’t really have all that many players to choose from to tell you the truth when you really think about it.”

His lack of height sometimes exposes him against larger wide receivers, but Bill Belichick has confidence in Arrington according to CSNNE.

“I think Kyle has a really good skill set to play anywhere back there,” said Belichick. “He’s fast, he’s tough, [and] he’s a good tackler, which your safeties need to be. Not that your corners don’t need to be, but I’d say it’s even more important at safety. He tackles well, he runs well, he’s a very athletic player. So I’d say his toughness and his tackling are similar to Devin [McCourty], same type of player who played corner to safety with similar type skills – speed, range, toughness. Those assets you need at safety, and Devin has them and Kyle has them.”

Which should serve him well and keep him in a Pats uniform when it comes time to trim the roster.