Patriots Gridiron News: Jabaal Sheard Addresses Decreased Role

New England Patriots defensive end Jabaal Sheard finally addressed his role with the team following being inactive against the 49ers.

What is going on with Jabaal Sheard? In a contract year, the New England Patriots defensive end is not having the kind of season he hoped for. In fact, he suddenly finds himself struggling just to get on the field.

Sheard has seen his playing time decreased tremendously since the first eight games of the season. He only played 23 snaps against the Seahawks in Week 10 and was a healthy scratch in the Week 11 matchup against the 49ers.

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Is Sheard a problem in the locker room or was being left home a week ago just a result of poor play? When asked about Bill Belichick’s decision to leave him home, the talented defensive end gave a simple answer.

"“It is what it is,” He said via WEEI. “I can only control what I can control.”"

What Sheard can control is how he performs on the football field. In his last five games, he only has half a sack and hasn’t shown the same explosiveness he had last season. With the emergence of second-year defensive end Trey Flowers, Sheard finds himself fighting for playing time and fighting to show his coaches that he can be a major factor on defense.

"“Just do my job, I think,” Sheard said when asked what he needs to do to increase his playing time. “Everything else, leave it up to coach. Just practice hard and when I get the opportunity play hard.”"

It sounds as though Belichick was trying to trigger fire under Sheard by decreasing his role. From what he told the media Friday, it appears it may have worked. Of course, the only true indication will be how he performs on the football field.

Injury report: Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has been officially listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the New York Jets. Brady was limited on Friday after missing practice on Wednesday and Thursday. When asked about his availability, Brady kept it simple and just replied, “We’ll see.”

Other notable players listed as questionable on injured list is Rob Gronkowski, Martellus Bennett, Julian Edelman and Chris Hogan. Cornerback Cyrus Jones was a new addition to the injured list. He is also listed as questionable due to an illness.

The only player listed as out for the showdown at the Meadowlands is special teams ace Matthew Slater.

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