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Howe: Time For Patriots To Shift Focus To Pass Rush?

BOSTON (CBS) -- Darrelle Revis is gone, and the Patriots have a huge hole to fill in their secondary.

Anyone will tell you there is no such thing as replacing Darrelle Revis. He's a generational talent who completely changes whatever defense he's on (except for maybe Tampa Bay), and now he's back with the New York Jets.

There aren't many options for the Patriots on the free agent market, and while the draft has some intriguing names, it's a lot to ask a rookie to step in and be a shut-down corner.

The Boston Herald's Jeff Howe joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich on Wednesday, and thinks the Patriots should place their defensive focus on a different area now that Revis is gone.

"There is not really a No. 1 guy out there. If they're looking for one or two guys out there who can fill a role, and you want to pay them between $5-7 million per year, you had one [in Brandon Browner] and let him go. I don't know if the other guys on the market are intriguing, but nobody is going to jump off the page at you," said Howe. "What do they do from here? Maybe you flip it and try to improve the pass-rush.

"Get a few more waves of guys there instead of leaning on Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich to carry you for 95 percent of the snaps," Howe continued. "I think you need to boost the pass rush and take some stress off the secondary, because unless there is a major trade in the works, there is not another free agent or draft prospect who is going to replicate what you got out of Revis and Browner."

Howe discussed the Patriots moving on from Browner, the future of Devin McCourty 

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