Patriots O-linemen confident in team’s ability to replace position coach Adrian Klemm

New England’s offensive line coach will miss some time due to a medical issue.

The New England Patriots will be without offensive line coach Adrian Klemm for “a little while” due to an unspecified health issue. While they were still in the process of figuring out how to proceed, according to head coach Bill Belichick, the expectation is that Billy Yates will play take on most of Klemm’s responsibilities.

Yates, of course, has been with New England as assistant offensive line coach since 2021 — actually arriving two years before Klemm was brought aboard this offseason. As a result, he knows the O-line room and its members quite well.

It was therefore no surprise to hear Yates get a vote of confidence from the locker room.

“Obviously, I’ve known Billy Yates now for three years and I’ve worked with him,” said center David Andrews, the offensive line’s elder statesman. “I think he always does a great job. It is what it is. You have to deal with it, you have to move on, and you have to keep moving. Definitely thoughts and prayers with AK, but we’re having a good group of guys handling it maturely and just try to move forward each week.”

Andrews is one of three players to have worked with Yates throughout his three years on New England’s coaching staff, the others being tackles Trent Brown and Michael Onwenu. But even those who have not been around that long have apparently built a good working relationship with the 43-year-old.

“I got a good rapport with Billy, I think we all do,” second-year guard Cole Strange told reporters on Thursday. “It will be seamless — obviously, a loss is a loss. Hope he’s doing well.”

How long Klemm will be out remains to be seen, but his current absent is just the latest blow to the position group as a whole. Four of its five starting spots have missed extended time this season due to injury, with only Andrews being able to play in every game so far. As a result, the unit has struggled for much of the year.

It recently appeared to have turned a corner, but Klemm missing time will make the job no easier for both the line and quarterback Mac Jones. Nonetheless, the the Patriots’ starting QB also feels good about the coaching setup the team has in place.

“I feel like we have a good coaching staff that works together, and every week they’re always working together,” Jones said. “I think it’s a unit versus one person, and that’s important to make sure as players we come together as a unit and as coaches, we come together as a unit, too.”

While there is confidence in the building that Yates will be able to replace Klemm during his time away, concerns about the coach’s well-being obviously take center stage.

“Definitely thinking about AK,” said Andrews. “We all have things that happen. Sometimes getting in a football building and it’s ‘Football, football.’ But there’s still life going on outside, and things.”