excerpt from The Providence Journal
Wilfork was replaced Sunday night by undrafted rookie Joe Vellano out of Maryland. The 6-foot-2, 285-pounder contributed a sack and two tackles against the Falcons.
Atlanta ran only 12 times for 46 yards after Wilfork left the game.
“Joe is a hard-working kid. He was a productive player in college and he played a lot of spots at Maryland,” Belichick said. “He has good instincts, kind of has a nose for the ball and a good feel for what’s going on. He’s really worked hard to, of course, to come in and as an undrafted player and earn a spot on the roster.”
Belichick has been impressed by Vellano’s work ethic.
“He’s still got a long way to go but he’s definitely making progress. He works hard every day,” the coach said. “He’s usually the first one on and the last one off the field or close to it. He puts in a lot of extra time, tries to get better at the things he needs to work on and that’s helped him.”
Chris Jones, claimed off waivers earlier in September, should see some time as well.
“That’s what it’s all about — preparation during the week, and those guys prepare well and they came in to the game and did some good things,” Mayo said of Vellano and Jones. “Obviously we still have a lot of work to do and gelling together to get that chemistry, but that comes with time. But [Sunday] night was a good night for them.”
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