New England Patriots: Elandon Roberts Earns Praise in Week 5

New England Patriots rookie linebacker Elandon Roberts made a name for himself with a stellar game against the Cleveland Browns.

While Sunday’s 31-13 victory over the Cleveland Browns was centered on the return of Tom Brady and the New England Patriots offense, a couple players shined on the defensive side of the ball including sixth-round draft pick Elandon Roberts.

In Sunday’s game, the product of the University of Houston led the Patriots with seven tackles and found himself on the field with Dont’a Hightower and Jamie Collins. The rookie showed flashes in the preseason, but showed the instincts Bill Belichick praised during his time on the field against the Browns.

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The 22-year-old linebacker was believed to be a candidate to be released in order to open up roster spots for the return of both Brady and Rob Ninkovich. So, the way he contributed to help the team was both impressive and timely. And in his words, added a level of excitement to the game.

"“I was definitely excited,” Roberts said Monday. “You get drafted, you come in and learn the system and whenever your opportunity finds itself you have to make the best of it. That’s what I did and just being able to make plays when they need to be made, not for yourself but the team. It’s all about the team. As long as you’re out there doing that, it’ll all be fine.”"

What’s most intriguing about Roberts’ journey to the New England Patriots is that he was pretty much stumbled upon by Belichick.

"“I first saw him when I was watching Keenan Reynolds, the Navy quarterback. In that game Reynolds threw for 300 yards or something like that. He threw a lot of passes in the game and that was the game of his career that he threw the most so I wanted to watch that,” Belichick said in a conference call Tuesday. “And when I watched that I kept noticing the middle linebacker for Houston. And he made a ton of plays in that game. I don’t know how many tackles he had but they weren’t all on the option play because he blitzed, he just showed up on plays, showed up a lot. I thought he ran well. I didn’t even know who he was so I went and got the information on him and so forth.”"

Elandon Roberts looks like a keeper and with continued hard work may find much more playing time on the defense. At 6-foot, 235 pounds, the rookie is not intimidated by the big stage and is already drawing comparisons to linebackers such as London Fletcher and even Ray Lewis as far as his “explosiveness” and his instincts.

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He certainly has a ways to go to reach Ray Lewis’s level, but Belichick is hopeful he keeps seeing improvement in the player he discovered by accident.

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