FOXBORO -- If you were to look at a play-by-play summary of Green Bay's 22-11 preseason win over the Patriots on Thursday night, the 13-yard reception by James White with just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter might not stand out.
But to see the game and watch the play was to be impressed. White caught a short pass from quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo headed to the right sideline. As a Packers defender angled him off in pursuit, White planted his right leg in the ground and cut sharply back toward the middle of the field, leaving the would-be tackler skidding in the wrong direction.
Considering that White's plant leg was looked at by Patriots trainers just before the end of the first half -- after a Packers player's helmet collided with White's knee, missing the pad meant to protect the joint -- White's performance on that 13-yard grab merited even more attention.
By game's end, the second-year back out of Wisconsin had made four catches for 52 yards and carried eight times for 12 yards. With injuries depleting New England's numbers at the running back position, White made a statement that he deserves serious consideration to win the team's third-down back role that opened up when Shane Vereen signed with the Giants in the offseason.
In a conference call on Friday, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said that White's role could very well extend beyond that specialized job.
"I think James has had a real good training camp," Belichick said. "A versatile player who's shown the ability to play on all four downs . . . I thought he did a good job in the open field of making a couple of players miss and gaining some extra yards. Thought it was a good step for him. He really didn't get a chance to play very much last year after preseason and James just worked hard and had an opportunity to handle the ball a little bit last night.
"Still a long way to go, a lot of things that he needs to work on, but he definitely showed up with some positive plays. Hopefully he can build on those going forward and find a way to contribute really on all four downs for us. That's what we need. That would be his value for us if he could do that."
White, who is listed at 5-foot-10, 206 pounds, also got an opportunity to show that he can stand up as a pass protector against larger oncoming rushers. He said recently that his goal in those situations is to stick his body in harms way and "hold on" to make sure his quarterback gets an extra moment or two to complete a pass.
On multiple occasions against the Packers, White was very effective as a pass protector.
"He does a good job in the passing game," Belichick said. "Green Bay ran a number of blitzes with their multiple blitzers, more than one guy, a lot of two-linebacker blitzes, which usually forces somebody besides an offensive lineman to be in there on the protection, usually a back, but it could be a tight end. But [White] had an opportunity to take up the blitz, make some catches [and] handle the ball a little bit."
With fellow running backs Brandon Bolden, Travaris Cadet, Dion Lewis and LeGarrette Blount all missing Thursday's game, White made the most of his opportunities and may now have an edge on the all-important third-down role in the Patriots offense.