Eight's A Crowd in the New England Patriots' Stuffed Backfield

(Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images)

Lawrence Maroney

Maroney, Maroney, Maroney.

You can practically feel New England collectively shake their heads at the guy. Boston fans are a fickle bunch at heart, but with Lawrence Maroney it has been especially bad.

Heralded as the next great thing out of the New England offense two seasons ago, a trip to injured reserve derailed his development.

Now the catcalls have rained down: Not tough enough. Not talented enough. Not durable enough.

The doubters are all having their say and laughing at the young man's expense, but Maroney will have the chance to prove them all wrong this season.

Unlike every other running back on the Patriots' roster from last year, he has the combination of both youth and experience the Patriots will need now and in the future.

He has started, officially, just 9 games in his three-year career and, last season, had his season ended after appearing in just three games by a broken bone in his shoulder.

With the team not wanting him to disclose the injury, Maroney stayed silent and was forced to sit out.

So sit out Maroney did, even after trying to play with the broken bone. The time out just let his critics get louder and circle closer, something that seems to have seriously bothered the young man.

When the injury bug struck the Patriots early and the team wasn't performing to the same level as they did the year before, Maroney became a favorite target for many fans and people looking to explain away the team's woes.

In that storied perfect regular season, though, Maroney did shine, rushing for 835 yards in just 185 attempts.

He still has that talent level and has declared his shoulder perfectly healthy heading into 2009. If he'd torn a hamstring, or blown out a knee, or been forced to sit out because of concussions, I'd say you should be worried about his potential.

A broken bone will heal though and, while we don't know the extent of his injury, his desire to play through the bone injury shows he is certainly a tough guy.

Asked about the injury, Maroney recently told reporters (via Boston.com):

"I had a broken bone and I was trying to play with it," said Maroney. "It's kind of hard to sit here and play and not tell people what is going on. Everybody is going to think one way because they don't really know what's going on. I dare anybody in this crowd to play football with a broken bone in your shoulder and you tell me how long you're going to last out there.”

While there's little chance he'll ever be given the 300+ carry workload of a feature back, who in today's league is given that kind of workload?

Especially with the loaded backfield he now finds himself a part of, it's unlikely Maroney will get a ton of carries this season.

But coming into a camp healthy, as talented as he is, and with a huge chip on his shoulder? There is a chance he could be the talk of training camp once again.

Still, he has to prove it. He's played well, but not spectacularly. The system, with its carousel of running backs, will frustrate him there, but he has to play well all season long.

There's a potentially great running back lurking in Lawrence Maroney. He has the ability to be both a tough, nose-down runner while also explosive enough to be a game breaker in the open field.

He is young and--with doubters calling for his head after, really, just one bad year--very ticked off.

Color me intrigued.

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