Patriots offensive line heaps praise on Scarnecchia

FOXBORO — The Patriots offensive line is prepared for battle against the Rams defensive line.

L.A.’s defensive line has been one of the best in the NFL this season, making life difficult for opposing offenses. The keys to the unit are defensive tackles Ndamukong Suh and Aaron Donald. When asked about those two players, Patriots guard Shaq Mason said he is looking forward to the challenge.

"(They're) Definitely going to be a task for us. They have a great front, and those two guys in the interior – you know, their names ring bells and they’re definitely worthy of it. We’re looking forward to competing with those guys," Mason said.

Patriots center David Andrews had a similar response when talking about the Rams defensive line.

"They do a very good job,” said Andrews. “They do a lot of things different. Suh at the base playing some nose guard and in the substituted defenses, he’ll go out there and play defensive end. So they do a lot of good things with those guys. Obviously they’re both dynamic players. Aaron Donald is the best defensive football player in the league, there’s no doubt about that. So it’s going to be a big challenge. We’re going to have to do a lot of things well.”

The Patriots offensive line has done tremendously well during the playoffs and has received praise in the locker room. James White, who’s seen the line improve throughout the year, is impressed how the line has answered challenge after challenge in the playoffs.

"Yeah, they’re awesome,” said White. “They take the challenge each and every week, facing good run-stoppers and good pass-rushers and they work well together and they’ve been giving us a boost all year long.”

The guys up front credit offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia for what they've been able to accomplish in the playoffs. Tackle Trent Brown said Scarnecchia pushes them very hard and has everyone’s respect.

“He’s hard on us, he coaches us hard,” said Brown. “He loves us, as well, and I think everybody respects him. He’s been doing this for a long time and I love him, for sure,” Brown said.

Mason spoke similarly about his coach and said that the offensive line not only plays for each other, but also for Scarnecchia because of all the work he puts into the unit.

" (Scarnecchia deserves) A lot of credit. I mean, day-in and day-out, he's on us, he's pushing us," said Mason. "He gets the best out of us, and we all love playing for him, want to play for him. Going out there, it's more of we're all playing for each other, but we're also playing for Dante because we know how much he puts into us. We like giving it back to him."

Noah Powell is an intern in the Boston 25 Sports Department. Follow Noah on Twitter at @npow55

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