In practice this week, the New England Patriots gave Matthew Slater the duty of simulating one of the Steelers' biggest offensive weapons in wide receiver Mike Wallace.
↵Of course, that's no simple task. Wallace ran a 4.33 40-yard dash in the combine, and has been burning defenses ever since. So how do you turn a Slater into a Wallace? Simple: you have him line up two yards offside.
↵Of course, given how many yards the Patriots' corners have been known to give the opponents' wide receivers at the line sometimes, two yards may not have seemed like the biggest difference in practice. We'll see before too long whether or not the simulated Wallace practice will help save the Pats any big plays on the field. Whatever they did in 2010, it didn't stop Wallace from picking up 136 yards on eight catches including a pair of touchdowns--albeit in a 39-26 loss.
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