Patriots Notebook: Joe Thuney becomes first Patriot to go wire-to-wire since 2013

FOXBOROUGH — After Sunday’s game, I walked over to the Patriots’ offensive linemen. The first words out of Shaq Mason’s mouth?

“He did it,” while pointing at fellow offensive lineman Joe Thuney.


Thuney played all 64 offensive snaps Sunday against the Jets, finishing the regular season with a perfect run — he played every offensive snap over the course of the 2018 regular season, 1,115 in all. He was the only guy on the roster to go wire-to-wire this year, becoming the first guy to do it since Ryan Wendell and Tom Brady did it in 2013. (In all, Thuney’s streak goes back to last year’s Dec. 11 loss to the Dolphins. Since then, he has played 1,612 consecutive snaps, including the postseason.)

“When you say it, it’s pretty cool. But there’s still work to be done. We still have the playoffs ahead of us,” Thuney told BostonSportsJournal.com. “(But) I like playing with the guys we have. A great quarterback. Great running back. Great receivers. A fun team. A great to be a part of. I’m glad I get to go out there and be a part of it. It’s pretty cool.”

“That's huge,” Bill Belichick said. “(The offensive line works) hard and they take a lot of snaps, not only in the games but in practice. It's a very durable group, a tough group. Marcus (Cannon) missed a couple of times. Shaq (Mason) missed a couple of games. Those guys have been in there not only every game, but every practice and that helps our team because we get consistency and timing and so forth.

“Joe's had a tremendous three years of durability. We know with the time he missed in the spring, which obviously is less of a setback than it is during the season. We've had good consistency from all of those guys. Yeah, that's certainly a big help.”