There was a lot of hype surrounding the Patriots' special teams this offseason, especially since Mike Vrabel chose to keep coordinator Jeremy Springer on his staff, despite the turnover with every other coach from the Jerod Mayo era. The unit performed well during the preseason, but became more of a liability once the regular season finally began.
The biggest problem continued to be at kicker, with rookie Andy Borregales looking like a potential mistake, on top of issues with the typically reliable punter Bryce Baringer, and tackling becoming more of a problem each week. What hasn't been problematic, however, is the return game, which has now been officially taken over by cornerback Marcus Jones.