With no Colvin, Pats will start shuffling LBs

NFL. The Patriots run of good luck in the injury department has come to an end.

After going 12 weeks without suffering a serious injury, outside linebacker Rosevelt Colvin was placed on the season-ending reserve/injured list Tuesday afternoon after suffering a foot injury in Sunday’s win over the Eagles. And, in a move that’s become a semi-annual tradition in Foxborough, they re-signed veteran linebacker Chad Brown.

The versatile Brown will take some of the snaps in Colvin’s place, despite the fact that he’s played inside for much of the last couple of years.

“I’ve played pretty much all the possible linebacker spots around here in the time I’ve been here, so wherever Coach needs me to play, that’s where I’ll play,” said Brown, who is in essentially his fourth tour of duty — and second this season — with the Patriots.

“If he needs me to punt,” said the 37-year-old Brown,  “I’ll punt.”

“I think he definitely has versatility,” said Head Coach Bill Belichick. “It’s a big advantage for us to have a player like that at this point in the year, who has that kind of flexibility, knows our system [and] who’s played in it.”

The Patriots could also move Adalius Thomas, shuffling him from the inside linebacker spot he’s manned much of the season to the outside linebacker spot previously played by Colvin. Thomas has played both inside and outside linebacker over the course of his career, and would appear to be a natural fit to make the move if needed.

“It depends on what Coach sees fit to do,” Thomas said about possibly making the move. “Whoever it is that’s out there, I’m pretty sure they’ll do a good job at it.”

The Colvin injury could also spark New England to change its base defense from a 3-4 to a 4-3, likely leaving a combination of Tedy Bruschi and Junior Seau at middle linebacker and Thomas and Mike Vrabel at outside linebacker. That would mean an extra defensive lineman like Jarvis Green or Mike Wright would be pressed into a starting role, something the two have done in years past.