MAPLEVILLE, R.I. -- More football-related analysis from former Patriots offensive lineman and current ESPN NFL analyst Matt Light, who held his eighth annual charity shootout on Tuesday:
Thoughts on start to season:
"Up-and-down. I know that's earth-shattering, but there's so much to be made in Week 1. And then everybody wants to say something about Week 2 based off the Week 1 performance, and it's just so hard to judge in the NFL how things are truly going to go. Last week was a great example of that. Came out of the gate firing on all cylinders. The game a couple days ago, not so much. Overall, I think they're going to be fine and we don't need to make too much of it in Week 2, but there's definitely a lot of things they have to work on."
On offensive line's struggles:
"There's a lot of moving parts on this offensive line. There always have been and there always will be. I think the number one consistent thing has been (coach) Dante (Scarnecchia) and his approach and how he deals with the guys. He's been doing it for so long and they know the expectations. They know how to approach it each and every week. There's definitely a learning curve and definitely something that only time can help with. I think that you're going to continue to see them improve. There's going to be some breakdowns here and there, but that's the nature of the beast. They'll be alright."
Would he return to play:
"I'm kind of the guy that when I close the door on something, I move on and I'm gone. There's a big part of me that misses the guys, and the fun that we had in the locker room and the things that we were able to do together. But the on the field stuff, I have definitely moved on from. It's fun to watch them now. I've never been a big fan of watching football, but I've enjoyed it. Just not as much last week as I did in Week 1."
What needs to improve going forward:
"It'll be their ability to consistently make plays, right? That was kind of the problem that I saw in Sunday's game. The consistency wasn't there and they never got into a rhythm. It wasn't what they needed. Their hallmark is that they're a very fundamentally sound offensive unit. That's what will get them through this whole season. Again, it's Week 2. They'll find a way to get back to stringing plays together, getting first downs, having good production, and using the running game that you've seen -- it's definitely there, it's always been there, but you have a second-year back in Stevan Ridley who's figuring it out and all on the same page and hitting the right holes and running hard, to me that was a signature of a good offense when I was playing, and I think that is still the benchmark, even though everybody wants to talk about the passing game, that running game is critical."