James Harrison hasn’t been with the Patriots long, but the edge rusher could play a big part in the team’s AFC Divisional matchup with the Tennessee Titans.
FOXBORO — James Harrison hasn’t been with the Patriots long, but the edge rusher could play a big part in the team’s AFC Divisional matchup with the Tennessee Titans.
When it comes to slowing down the Titans, the Patriots have to be wary of their quick-footed quarterback, Marcus Mariota, and their young running back, Derrick Henry. This season, the Pats have struggled containing mobile quarterbacks. That’s why having a player like Harrison, who can set the edge, is vital.
“He’s a two-headed monster, so to speak,” Harrison said. “He’s also a running back that plays quarterback. We’ve just got to try to contain him and get pressure to him and hopefully everything else will take care of itself.”
Harrison, 39, looked like he could help in his first game with the Patriots. Against the New York Jets, he finished with two sacks. His 27 defensive snaps were a season high after playing sparingly with the Pittsburgh Steelers this season.
This week, Tennessee Titans coach Mike Mularkey was asked for an assessment of Harrison.
“Still good,” Mularkey said. “He just won’t go away. I know him. I was there at Pittsburgh with him. He’s a guy that’s just passionate about it. He doesn’t look much different. I can say that. He still can play.”
This week marks Harrison’s third with the Patriots, so his knowledge of the system still, in his own words, isn’t where it needs to be. That being said, Saturday’s game is one in which the Patriots could certainly use someone with his skill set.
“A little more comfortable, you know,” Harrison said. “Each day gets a little better. Each week is a little better.”
Turnovers elude them
The Patriots’ defense enters the playoffs in a slump when it comes to producing turnovers.
In the final four games, the Patriots came away with one takeaway. And that was the gift interception from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger that sealed a win over the Steelers in Pittsburgh in Week 15.
They ended the season with 18 takeaways, which ranked 25th in the league and 11th out of the 12 teams that reached the playoffs.
The defense is well aware of the lack of interceptions and fumble recoveries heading into Saturday night’s playoff game against the Tennessee Titans at Gillette Stadium.
“We just have to force the quarterback sometimes into errant throws,” safety Duron Harmon said. “That’s going to be one thing, and another thing is attacking the ball. That’s something that we’ve been talking about, not getting the turnovers that we want to.
“But we’re winning. That’s always the most important thing to us. Making sure we have more points than the opposing team has at the end of the game.”
The Patriots, who are 21-1 (.955) in the playoffs since 1970 when finishing with a positive turnover differential, also haven’t fully capitalized on their opportunities.
Each of their last four opponents fumbled but the Patriots failed to recover any of the loose balls. And Harmon pointed out he and fellow safety Devin McCourty dropped potential interceptions in December.
“So, we’re getting opportunities; we just have to make the most of them,” said Harmon, who led the team with four interceptions.
As for the Titans, they committed 25 giveaways in the regular season — more than all but seven teams and the most of any team to make the playoffs. In their wildcard-round upset of Kansas City, the Titans fumbled twice, losing one, and tossed an interception.
Advantage Pats
In addition to receiving a first-round bye, the Patriots also guaranteed themselves home-field advantage throughout the conference tournament by landing the top seed in the AFC.
“It’s great to have your hometown crowd and those people in your back pocket,” fullback James Develin said. “So, we’re definitely happy to be playing at Gillette.”
Playing at home with Tom Brady at quarterback has proven to be a nearly unbeatable combination, as the Patriots have gone 107-18 (.856) in the regular season and 17-3 (.850) in the playoffs.
The Titans went 3-5 on the road this season, the victories achieved at Jacksonville, Indianapolis and Cleveland. The Jaguars went 10-6 and reached the playoffs while the Colts won four games and the Browns none.
Still, the Titans’ impressive effort at Kansas City shows anything is possible as they head to New England as 13½-point underdogs.
“Like Coach [Bill Belichick] said, it’s all about execution,” Develin said. “It doesn’t matter where you’re playing; the field is 100 yards long and 53 and a third wide, so we’re going to go out there and execute the best we can.”
All accounted for
The Patriots picked a good time to get healthy.
The team had perfect attendance at practice Thursday. In their final session of the week, the team had Malcolm Mitchell, Mike Gillislee and Marquis Flowers all return. This is the Patriots' first practice with perfect attendance since Sept. 29.
Mitchell is the biggest wildcard. He missed the first two practices of the week after returning two weeks ago. The Patriots technically can activate him by 4 p.m. Friday and he would be eligible to play Saturday against the Titans. If he’s not activated by next week, he wouldn't be able to return until next season.
Asked if he anticipates having Mitchell back this season, Belichick wasn’t forthcoming.
“I don’t know,” Belichick said. “I’ll certainly let you know as soon as — if that happens, we’ll let you know as soon as possible. There won’t be a second of delay.”
Thursday's practice marked Gillislee’s first since suffering a knee injury in Week 16 against Buffalo. It would be a surprise if he played this weekend.
Flowers returns after missing Wednesday’s practice with an illness. He’s expected to play Saturday.
Gillislee and Flowers were limited Thursday along with Alan Branch (knee), Rex Burkhead (knee), Eric Lee (ankle and finger) and James White (ankle). All six are listed as questionable and no one has been ruled out for Saturday's game.
Also, Chris Hogan and Kyle Van Noy have been removed from the injury report.
— Mark Daniels writes for the Providence Journal and Rich Garven writes for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette of GateHouse Media.