Russell Bodine ready and willing to help the Patriots offensive line

FOXBORO – Russell Bodine has the experience needed to start in the NFL.

In five NFL seasons, Bodine has started 74-of-74 games played between four years in Cincinnati and one season in Buffalo. The 27-year-old was traded to the Patriots in a deal with the Bills last week. In his first practice with his new team on Sunday, he even started snapping to Tom Brady.

With David Andrews out for the season, with blood clots in his lungs, the Patriots have put together some [...]

FOXBORO – Russell Bodine has the experience needed to start in the NFL.

In five NFL seasons, Bodine has started 74-of-74 games played between four years in Cincinnati and one season in Buffalo. The 27-year-old was traded to the Patriots in a deal with the Bills last week. In his first practice with his new team on Sunday, he even started snapping to Tom Brady.

With David Andrews out for the season, with blood clots in his lungs, the Patriots have put together some competition at the center position. At this rate, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Ted Karras start the season at center, but Bodine could factor in the race at some point.

“Obviously getting traded right there at the end of preseason, little bit of a whirlwind,” Bodine said. “You get the phone call and you are getting here the same day. I think my goal is just to get in here and get caught up on the system as fast as I can and do what I can to contribute.”

The Patriots have had some bad luck with their offensive line position this offseason. Last week, Bill Belichick admitted, in an interview with 98.5 The Sports Hub, that when tackle Jared Veldheer and guard Brian Schwenke retired, the Patriots lost two players who would’ve made the team. Last week, the Pats lost Andrews and rookie guard/center Hjalte Froholdt, who suffered a season-ending injury in the finale preseason game.

All those reasons are why the Patriots traded for three offensive linemen last week – Korey Cunningham, Jermaine Eluemunor and Bodine. On Sunday, Belichick called Bodine one of his most experienced players.

“Russell's had a solid career and quite a bit of experience playing center for Cincinnati and then most recently for Buffalo,” Belichick said. “He's also played guard in the past, so we'll see how it goes with the three lineman that we acquired over the past few days. We'll just see how it all works out, but he's – at this point – one of the more experienced players on our team in terms of NFL experience. So, we'll see how all of that comes together.”

It’ll probably take Bodine some time to get used to the Patriots system, but he said he’s eager to learn and working with Brady this week has gone well.

“We took a couple (of snaps at practice),” Bodine said. “It is what it is. Early impressions, he was more than helpful. I just told him anything he needs from me, anything I can do, let me know. Don’t be afraid to tell me. I lump that in with getting here and getting meshed with the system as fast as you can and get going.”