Bledsoe reverses field on shotgun offense

FOXBORO, Mass. - Drew Bledsoe has changed his mind. At least he has when it comes to working out of the shotgun offense. The Patriot quarterback did not like working that way before. Now, he does.

Never mind that when the Patriots have used the shotgun in the past two years center Damian Woody has had problems getting the ball properly to Bledsoe. It is worth staying with the shotgun when the situation dictates, Bledsoe feels.

"We're going to use the shotgun until it becomes a problem," he said. "It has been a problem so far this preseason, but we're going to continue to use it through the next two preseason games.

"I would imagine that if we can get through the next two games without any bad shotgun snaps, then we will use it in the regular season," Bledsoe added. "If we have some problems in the next two games, you might not see it."

When the time is right, the alignment is a help.

"I prefer to be back there in a shotgun when we're in a passing situation," Bledsoe said. "It gives me a little more separation from the rush, a little bit more time to look things over. It improves my field of vision. It's something that we need to be able to do."

He did not always feel that way.

"When I was younger, I wasn't comfortable with it," he said. "I had not done it enough. It wasn't something I had done in high school and college. My first couple years in the league, it wasn't something I was extremely confident with, something I liked a lot."

While he and his team have struggled offensively in their first three games, Bledsoe said the problems have been in performance, not with the new system being put in place by Charlie Weis, the offensive coordinator.

"The terminology has come back rather quickly," said Bledsoe, noting that it is similar to that used when Bill Parcells was coach. "When you step into a new system, that's the No. 1 thing you've got to learn and become comfortable with - the language.

"As far as what we're trying to do, the way we're trying to attack, I think we're getting close.

Bledsoe said the Patriots are little bit of this, a little bit of that - trying to find what works and what doesn't work. The team is now moving a little closer, he said, to determining exactly which things it's going to use and which it isn't.

"With Vincent Brisby gone, that changes things, shuffles things around a little bit," Bledsoe said. "So we have to adjust to that as well."

Bill Belichick, the new Patriot head coach, also does not have any problems or concerns with the way the new offense is being implemented.

"It's OK," he said. "It's going to be better. I think (Bledsoe) has a good comfort level."