Mic check, mic check

Pats: Jury still out on new defensive communication system

With one preseason game remaining, the Patriots continue to work out the kinks in the NFL’s new defensive communications system.

The system, similar to the one that offensive coordinators have used to communicate with quarterbacks since 1994, will be used on the defensive side of the football for the first time this year. It allows defensive signals to be communicated to one player via a Motorola transmitter in the helmet, and the player who has the transmitter can be identified with a green dot on the back of his helmet. (According to NFL rules, each team is allowed no more than one headphoned defender on the field.) The microphone is live only between the start of the play clock and its 15-second mark, and players are not equipped with an electronic method of response.

But while it eliminates the need for hand signals, it has created a whole new series of issues this preseason as teams work to get up to speed on the new technology before the start of the regular season. While some teams like Buffalo and San Diego report no problems, other say the system is difficult to get used to, that time is wasted waiting for defensive backs to get back to the huddle to get the play and that teams who rotate defenders will be forced to alter their personnel schemes to make sure only one headphoned defender is on the field at once.

New England first used the system during pregame warmups prior to the Aug. 17 preseason contest against the Bucs in Tampa, but did not use it during the game. The following week — last Friday’s game against the Eagles — the Patriots used the system in the first half and into the third quarter. Linebackers Tedy Bruschi and Mike Vrabel were both spotted with the green dot on their back of their helmets.

The day after the Eagles game, coach Bill Belichick said the communication system was “a learning process.” Asked about it again yesterday, he was noncommittal about whether the Patriots would use the system in tomorrow’s preseason finale against the Giants at the Meadowlands.

“Maybe,” Belichick said. “We talked about it after the Philadelphia game, and we will talk about it either [Tuesday] or [Wednesday] on how we want to handle it. So, we might.”

Vrabel said yesterday that it remains a work in progress.

“I had one for the first quarter of the [Philadelphia] game, and tried it out just to see how it worked,” Vrabel said. “I think there are some things we’ll have to work through.

“We really haven’t had a lot of time to work with it. So I’m sure we’ll work again with it Thursday.”

The sentiment appears to be the same throughout the league. The Ravens have reported trouble picking up the intricacies of the system, while other teams have gone back and forth between using wired and wireless headsets. Dallas linebacker Bradie James is one of the Cowboys who is wired, and recently told the Dallas Morning-News that it’s difficult to relay the call to both the front seven and the secondary.

“I have to make sure everybody gets back to the huddle,” James said. “If they don’t, they’re waiting for me to make the call. When you had the signals, the secondary can see their coverage part. It's hard for the secondary because they always are run off if it's a deep pass. You have to wait on them, so we still communicate. It’s one of the things we have to work out.”