Mike Onwenu has been moved around on the offensive line so many times this season.
And at the beginning of last week, it looked like he was going to try something different once again.
During the first two days of practice, Onwenu was spotted at left guard, despite having primarily played on the right side throughout his career. And that brought up questions about why the team was making this change.
A to Z Sports spoke with Onwenu on Wednesday and he shed some more light on this interesting decision.
"It was just more contingency," Onwenu said. "MJ (Michael Jordan) was kind of hurt."
But by Friday, the team felt good about Jordan's chances of playing, so Onwenu was moved back to the right. And that's where he was on Sunday in the win over the Bears.
"Wednesday and Thursday I was just practicing on the left and then by Friday, I was back on right," he explained. "So I kind of had a day or two to just get back to my position and just know where I was going to be."
And he definitely felt was happy about the move back.
"I definitely was," Onwenu replied when asked if he was relieved. "I didn't prefer to play on the left."
Onwenu has been applauded for his versatility all season, having gone wherever the coaching staff needs him.
“Mike’s our best offensive lineman so we’re going to put him where he can be successful for us,” offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt said last week. “He’s been very versatile. We’ll see what happens this week, but I feel really good about Mike’s play. He needs to be available wherever he needs to be. So if he plays left guard, he plays right guard, he plays right tackle, again, he’s our best offensive lineman. We’re going to put him in an area where we need him.”
But going into Week 11, the Patriots are on track to start the same offensive line for back-to-back weeks for the first time this season.
"That would be fantastic, and that is my expectation with the realization that you can get to Friday and lose one of those guys," Jerod Mayo told reporters on Wednesday. "I have my fingers crossed that we can roll the same group out there.
So that's something Onwenu is certainly looking forward to.
But this officially clears up a lot of buzz from last week. Onwenu was only practicing at left guard just in case.
