PATRIOTS NOTEBOOK: Kickoff coverage continues to be a major concern

The Patriots now rank 29th in the league in that department. They're allowing 26.4 yards per return, a number that includes a 97- and, just this past week, a 58-yarder.

FOXBORO – No need for Patriots safety Devin McCourty to take a peek at the statistics the NFL puts out each week.

He’s quite certain that in one specific instance it would be a case of read ’em and weep.

“I don’t know where we rank, but I doubt it’s very good in (covering) kickoffs,” McCourty said on Tuesday. “I’m sure that will definitely be up there for one of the things that we need to improve (as the team goes through a period of self-evaluation during this, its bye week), especially with going forward in the season (when) there will probably be less touchbacks, the weather will change.”

Allowing an average of 26.4 yards per return, well up from last year’s 18.9-yard average, the Patriots rank 29th in the league in kickoff coverage this season. The number includes a 97-yarder by Kansas City’s Tremon Smith in the fourth quarter of the Patriots’ 43-40 win over the Chiefs in Week 6 and a 58-yarder by Darius Jennings at the start of this past Sunday’s game in Tennessee, a return that pretty much set the tone for the Titans’ 34-10 win. That 26.4-yard average is 3.6 yards above the league average for kickoff returns, which is 22.8.

Looking to make the play safer, the league passed a number of new rules during the offseason, one of them prohibiting players on the coverage team from taking a running start to cover kickoffs. Under the new rules, players can no longer take a running start and must wait at the 34, the intent being that the rule will slow down the coverage unit, thereby reducing the speed of collisions downfield.

But don’t try telling McCourty or Bill Belichick that the new rules are responsible for the problems his team has experienced in that area this season. They'll have none of it.

“I don’t think it’s a rule thing as much as we’ve got to coach it better. We’ve got to play better. The whole operation has to be better,” the head coach. “We have six weeks to get it to a high level and hopefully we’ll be able to do that.”

“I think the rules have had some. … They’re relevant and they’ve eliminated some things that you can do on the kickoff team that we’ve done in the past,” Belichick continued. “I think we’ve had our moments. At times, we’ve covered well, but … (at others) we haven’t and have probably had more breakdowns in that area than what we are used to having in previous years. It’s definitely an issue. It’s an area that we’ve got to continue to work in.”

Said McCourty: “I would say (the new rules) probably affected the whole league because you had to change how you played, but kickoff’s still kickoff. You’re kicking to one area of the field, one guy has the ball, there’s 10 blockers. We have 11 guys – 10 guys plus the kicker but our kicker (Stephen Gostkowski) probably does a pretty good job compared to other kickers of running down there and being very active in the coverage team.”

One player who’s been covering kicks will no longer be doing so for the team.

Linebacker Nicholas Grigsby, whose six tackles on special teams rank fourth on the Patriots behind Brandon King (11), Nate Ebner (eight) and Matthew Slater (seven), was released on Tuesday. Running back Kenjon Barner was also cut loose by the team.

Cornerback Duke Dawson, the team’s second-round draft pick who was placed on the injured reserve list on Sept. 6, was activated.

The moves leave the Patriots with 52 active players, one below the league limit of 53.

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