Who will join Maroney when he steps into the huddle in tomorrow night’s game against the Rams is just the latest uncertainty about the role the Patriots’ 2006 first-round draft pick will have this season. Even with the questions about Maroney’s production, he is still adamant that he has the ability to be the player the Patriots envisioned when they selected him out of Minnesota five seasons ago.
“We’ve got a lot of critics out here still,’’ Maroney said. “We’ve got a lot of naysayers, a lot of doubters: ‘This has got to be Maroney’s best year,’ or, ‘He’s got to come out here and show it.’
“Yeah, I’ve got a lot of critics out there still, and I laugh at it. I’m just going to go out there and play hard and show everybody why they took me first round.’’
Last season, Maroney had a career-high 194 carries, but his 757 rushing yards left him with just 3.9 yards per attempt, the lowest average for any season in which he had at least 30 carries. The bigger issue, however, was Maroney’s inability to hang onto the ball in the second half of the season.
In his final seven games of the regular season (Maroney did not play in Week 17 against Houston), he fumbled four times.
Two weeks ago, Patriots running backs coach Ivan Fears was asked about Maroney’s ball-security issues, and he said he didn’t envision them carrying over.
“I think I’ll answer it this way,’’ Fears said. “We’re not going to have that problem this year, so that is where we’re going to leave it.’’
Along with working on his fumbling problem, Maroney made it a point to arrive at camp this year in good condition.
“I had to come into camp in shape,’’ Maroney said. “There’s a lot of us. Got to come in better than the next.’’
The “us’’ Maroney is referring to is the stable of running backs the Patriots currently employ. Fred Taylor, Kevin Faulk, Sammy Morris, and BenJarvus Green-Ellis all will vie for carries.
“It’s definitely a lot,’’ Maroney said. “And at the same time, it’s a lot of different types of backs.
