Let’s get physical

Pats ready for new-look, bulked-up Miami D

When news broke in the offseason that Jason Taylor had been traded by Miami to Washington, the only person happier than Taylor himself was Matt Light.

While Taylor had a chance to escape a miserable franchise that had just posted a 1-15 record, Light was thrilled to be rid of his professional tormentor: From 2001 until the end of last season, Taylor used Light as his personal chew toy — usually lined up opposite New England’s left tackle when the two teams met, Taylor had 10½ sacks in 14 games against the Patriots. The news drew smiles from quarterback Tom Brady, who said he and Light cracked open a beer when they heard about the deal that got Taylor out of the AFC East. Light was still smiling yesterday.

“That was a while ago, but it was a good feeling,” Light said when reminded of the news.

In fact, without longtime vets Taylor and linebacker Zach Thomas (who ended up in Dallas), the Miami defense will sport a whole new look when it rolls into Gillette Stadium Sunday for a Dolphins-Patriots matchup. No more of the old standards, according to Patriots coach Bill Belichick. It’s a whole new day.

“In a way, it just doesn’t seem the same standing up here, talking about the Dolphins and not going on about Taylor and Thomas,” Belichick said. “But, they’re not here. There’s been a changing of the guard in that respect.”

That changing of the guard can be classified as The Bill Parcells Effect. As he has done at each one of his other stops, the prime directive from Parcells is to get bigger and nastier up front immediately and build out from there — Patriots fans may remember the little matter of choosing between defensive lineman Duane Brackens or wide receiver Terry Glenn.

And so, in their first full offseason with Parcells as the boss, the Dolphins tried to transform themselves from a finesse franchise into a collection of bruisers. While there are still some of the same elements to the Miami defense that New England has become familiar with, in many aspects, it’s a reconstructed group, one with a more physical, nasty approach to the game. (Let’s just say no one on the current Miami roster will be asked to appear on “Dancing with the Stars” soon.) And while Belichick says the Dolphins have changed on both sides of the ball, the real differences have come up front on defense, where the Miami defensive line now averages more than 300 pounds and includes defensive ends Kendall Langford and Vonnie Holliday and nose tackle Jason Ferguson.

It’s no surprise to hear Belichick describe this Miami team as “bigger and more physical” than the one they’ve seen the last several of years, and Light agrees.

“I think they’re very physical, especially their front three or four,” Light said. “They have a lot of guys who are playing really well. I think they do a great job of controlling a lot of the blockers up front and letting their linebackers fly around and make big plays. They attack you off the edge, and they do a lot of things that can be very disruptive.”