On Wednesday morning, Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo confirmed to the media that center David Andrews would be undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery, cutting his ninth season with the Patriots short after only four games.
This leaves an already porous offensive line without their most tenured player for the remainder of the 2024 season.
Mark Daniels of MassLive reported on Wednesday morning that Andrews had a decision to make when it came down to when to have surgery. Daniels said on X.com, “If he plays, and it gets worse, it could cost him 2025. If he has the procedure now, it'll cost him the rest of 2024. Tough decision to make.”
The tough decision was made, and Andrews will miss the remaining 13 games of this season.
So, what now?
In comes Nick Leverett, the fourth-year offensive lineman who signed with the Patriots this offseason after spending the first three years of his career with Tampa Bay.
Notice I said “offensive lineman” and not center.
That’s because until Sunday’s relief duty for an injured Andrews, Leverett had never played a regular season NFL snap at center. Leverett spent all three years with the Buccaneers at guard, and was only ever the team’s emergency center last season.
“I was technically the backup center last year, but didn’t touch the field one snap,” Leverett told me after meeting with the media on Wednesday before practice. “I mean, I snapped just as, you know, the emergency guy.”
Despite never playing the position in a game for the Buccaneers, Leverett told me that retired center Ryan Jensen was someone he learned a lot about the position from during his rookie season of 2021 - which coincided with Jensen’s lone trip to the Pro Bowl.
But since arriving in New England this offseason, Leverett told me that Andrews was someone he leaned on as he tried to get comfortable with playing center in a new offense.
“I was learning from him, and you know it’s just - different scheme, different offense, there’s little things, you know?” said Leverett. “I’ve got a good grasp of a lot of things, but sometimes we see things differently, you know?
“I ask, you know, ‘Why do you see it that way? What makes you see it that way?’ And then he explained it to me, and I’m like, ‘OK, that makes more sense then how I see it.’ So yeah, it’s little things here and there that he helps me with.”
Before signing with New England, Leverett made 16 appearances across his three seasons in Tampa, including 10 starts which all came in the 2022 season in front of seven-time Super Bowl winning quarterback Tom Brady.
Leverett told the media on Wednesday that having Brady be the first quarterback he blocked for at the professional level helped shape the way he approaches the game.
“I mean, you gotta understand who you’re blocking for back there,” said Leverett. “You know, it was older Tom Brady. You didn’t want him to get hurt and everything like that considering his age and everything. But it’s also like, you’re blocking for the G.O.A.T. So we put that weight on our shoulders.
“I mean, it was an honor to block for him. Honestly, I still look back to this day, and remember good moments of blocking for him and everything like that. And you know, it’s definitely something I cherish forever.”
After spending the 2023 season blocking for Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield, Leverett is back to blocking for Brady QB lineage, as Brissett spent his rookie season as Brady’s third string backup during the 2016 season.
When asked how inspiring it was to see Brissett continuously get back up after taking all the hits he has taken so far to start the 2024 season, Leverett invoked the New England legend once again.
“It’s very inspiring,” said Leverett. “You know, we hate to see it. But, you know, even the greats get knocked down. You know, blocking for Tom, I definitely got beat a couple times, and he go knocked down.
“But it ain’t about how many times you get knocked down, it’s about how many times you get up. And you know, Jacoby definitely displays that. And yeah man, he’s a tough cat.”
Will Leverett help the Patriots offensive line keep Brissett off his back more than they have the last three weeks?
During this three-game losing streak, New England has allowed 16 sacks. Six of those 16 came in Sunday’s 30-13 blowout loss to the 49ers, all of which occurred with Brissett under center.
“Yeah, I thought Nick did a decent job stepping in there this past game,” Mayo told the media on Wednesday. “Now that he'll get more reps during practice, you expect him to continue to get better every single day. So, that's our expectation.”
Brissett also told the media how important practice will be for Leverett this week as he steps in for Andrews, and that he doesn’t expect much of his day-to-day to change with a different center now getting the first team snaps.
“Not at all,” said Brissett when asked if things would change with Leverett. “That's what practice is for a lot of times. You get those reps with a lot of different guys. Obviously, playing in the game with Nick, having that rapport with him and building on that.”
Regardless of how good that rapport with Leverett grows over the next few days, it was clear from Brissett’s demeanor that the loss of Andrews was a massive blow to the team both on and off the field.
“It's tough - that one hurt me,” said Brissett. “One of the key reasons why I wanted to come back here is because of my past relationship with him. It's tough when a guy like that goes down because he's not going down for anything minor.
“I talked to him this morning and he's like, ‘I think I'm going to try.’ I'm like, ‘Dave, come on man. As much as I would love for you to.’ He means so much to this team. Not only just on the field but off the field. His presence in the locker room, and obviously in this community. He's been here for so long and you wish you had 53 David Andrews’.