Bill Belichick Gives Insight On Several Young Patriots’ Futures

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has great thoughts for some of the young players on his current roster. He talked about these players in the most recent video conference.

Josh Uche has great game with the team. He had excellent performance as a pass rusher since making his delayed debut in Week 8. Let’s just say that Uche is the most athletic front-seven defender. The second-round pick was pretty versatile in Monday night’s loss to the Buffalo Bills. He started at inside linebacker alongside Terez Hall. Uche hasn’t played this position since training camp.

“(We) like Josh,” Belichick said of the linebacker. “I think he’s done a lot of positive things for us in the kicking game and defensively has some versatility. We were kind of trying to figure that out early what his best spot would be, and it took a little while for all that to materialize.

“He was inactive part of the year, but he’s definitely going to help us. He’s a good football player and we’ll be able to define his role and his situation much better next year after a year of experience with him. So I’m looking forward to that. He’s definitely going to be an asset for us, and if he continues to work and improve, he’s got a good future.”

Bill Belichick likes his young players

Uche left the game against the Bills due to a foot injury. He didn’t show up for Wednesday’s practice.

Mike Onwenu is another versatile player on Belichick’s roster. Patriots coaches viewed him as a backup guard candidate. However, Onwenu’s primary spot is right tackle. He hasn’t played this position at Michigan.

The team will have to evaluate Onwenu’s real position. Will he stay at tackle? Maybe he will go at guard.

“That’s something we’ll take a long, hard look at this year,” Belichick said. “This year, putting him at tackle was kind of our way to try to get our best players on the field with (left tackle) Isaiah (Wynn) and so forth. … I think he’s shown, maybe a little bit surprisingly to us and him, his ability to play tackle.”

Belichick is also impressed with the improvement Onwenu made at tackle. The Patriots head coach said that Onwenu has opened a lot of doors for himself, and he will sure find his right spot on the roster.