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Bill Belichick Details David Andrews' Strengths As Patriots' Second-Year Center

BOSTON (CBS) -- Last year, David Andrews earned the starting center job as a rookie almost by default, due to injuries to Bryan Stork. This year, though, there is no mistaking which player the Patriots want to work in the middle of the offensive line.

By dispatching Bryan Stork last week, the team made it clear that David Andrews is the team's starting center, and he need not be looking over his shoulder after every bad play or mistake on the field.

It's a bold move, considering the Patriots did win a Super Bowl with a rookie Stork at center. Bill Belichick explained a bit about what he sees from Andrews in his second year as a pro.

"Well I think that playing time helped any rookie player going into the second year. David played really well for us last year. He's really smart and has a good instinct for playing the center position. He's played it his whole life, since fifth grade or whatever, so he definitely knows how to play in there, but I would say the extra year probably just moves everything along a little bit," Belichick said on Monday. "[He is] a little bit quicker, a little bit smoother with the identifications. Again, not that any of this I would say was a problem [last year], but it's just better with more experience, and [he's] more decisive, quicker recognition, just more experienced inside and on different plays, and protections, and looks, and where to help, and how long to help a guy, and when you have to leave him for an assignment or sometimes you can't help them at all. Sometimes you can help them a lot depending on what the play is, or the assignment, or the location of the other defensive lineman, or the linebackers as the case may be. It's a lot of little things like that."

As much as anything, Belichick seemed to be impressed by the ability of Andrews to bear the responsibility of being in charge.

"Kind of tying it together – that's an important part of the center position – is helping the other four guys, two on either side of you, all see the same picture of the people that you're responsible for," Belichick said. "A lot of little things. I don't think there is any big [thing], but each protection is different, each play is different, every front that we go up against has a little bit of a nuance that's a little different than the next one. So, it's a lot of little things like that."

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