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          New England Patriots

          Terrence Brooks could be key piece in Patrick Chung fallout

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          Riddick: Chung's situation is a big deal (1:05)

          Louis Riddick reacts to Patrick Chung's cocaine possession charge and how the Patriots will move forward as an organization. (1:05)

          • Mike Reiss, ESPN Staff WriterAug 22, 2019, 03:23 PM ET
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              Mike Reiss is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the New England Patriots. Reiss has covered the Patriots since 1997 and joined ESPN in 2009. In 2019, he was named Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. You can follow Reiss on Twitter at @MikeReiss.
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          FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- With starting safety Patrick Chung scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday on a charge of cocaine possession, the New England Patriots have to be prepared with contingency plans if they are without Chung for any period of time.

          Chung is one of the key cogs of the defense, having played 85% of the defensive snaps in 2018, with linebacker Kyle Van Noy affectionately referring to him as a "beast" and "one of the most underrated" players in the NFL last season.

          Chung's ability to match up with opposing tight ends is a significant part of his value to the Patriots. His physicality and tackling also is critical for a defense that plays about 90% of its snaps with five or six defensive backs on the field, which means they are a lighter unit and need their safeties to fill a linebacker-type role at times. The 5-foot-11, 215-pound Chung does that exceptionally well.

          There probably isn't one player on the roster who can fill that type of role, but a possible silver lining for the Patriots is that defensive back is one of the deeper positions on their roster -- especially when factoring in some cornerbacks who can flex into a safety role in certain packages, such as Jason McCourty, Jonathan Jones and Duke Dawson.

          Six-year veteran Terrence Brooks (5-11, 205 pounds) is probably the Patriots' closest facsimile to Chung in terms of a pure safety. He entered the NFL as a third-round draft choice of the Baltimore Ravens in 2014, and has only one career start on his résumé, with his primary niche coming on special teams in stints with Baltimore (2014-15), Philadelphia (2016) and the New York Jets (2017-18).

          He has opened some eyes this preseason, but asking him to fill a potential Chung void might be too much, even though the Patriots obviously liked him enough to give him a two-year, $4 million contract in the offseason.

          "Terrence is a smart kid, works hard, has a lot of versatility," coach Bill Belichick said on Aug. 12. "We've asked him to do a number of different things. He's handled that well."

          One of the points Belichick made was how important communication is among players in the secondary, and given Chung's experience in the team's system, Brooks obviously has some ground to make up in that area. That would be a big part of what the Patriots potentially miss without Chung.

          Devin McCourty is locked in at one starting safety spot, with his range and speed being top assets. Seven-year veteran Duron Harmon is a top backup, with core special-teamer Nate Ebner an emergency option.

          Chung and Brooks are top options at the other safety spot, with undrafted Malik Gant (Marshall) also in the mix.