Before the 2019 regular season even began, the New England Patriots already suffered a major loss: starting center David Andrews, who has been a fixture along the team’s offensive line ever since earning a full-time starting job in 2016, was hospitalized in late August and later diagnosed with blood clots in his lungs. The medical scare forced him to sit out the entire season as the team placed him on injured reserve on roster cutdown day.
Almost five full months removed from the diagnosis, however, the outlook appears to be a positive one for Andrews. Speaking at a Patriots Charitable Foundation event in Providence on Monday, the 27-year-old talked about his challenging 2019 but also offered an optimistic perspective on what lies ahead for him: “I should have a bunch of doctors’ appointments here in February, and get all that cleared up and be good to go next year.”
“Hopefully that goes well and then we kind of see from there. Pretty optimistic and just hope everything comes back good here the next month,” said Andrews during a short media availability session after his remarks at the charity event (via ESPN Boston’s Mike Reiss). “I’m not ready to be done playing football. If there’s any chance I can go play football, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Andrews was forced to spend the entire 2019 season on the sidelines — a new experience for him — after the blood clots were discovered, but still provided a valuable presence for the Patriots and was praised by head coach Bill Belichick for his leadership. But while he pointed out that coaching might be in the cards for him at one point in the future, he also made sure that his focus was on returning to the football field soon.
Still, Andrews also touched on his experience over the last few months: “This was the first year that I have not played football. It was kind of a different year for me. It was a different role, I guess: trying to do things, helping out the guys, just being there as a voice, helping things out, sharing my experiences, trying to see what I can see, help them out. So, it was a little bit of a different year for me [but] it was nice to get to do a few things a little differently.”
A return in 2020 would obviously be good news for Andrews personally, and also for a Patriots team that struggled along its offensive line early on during the season. With the team facing an uncertain future at numerous positions including quarterback, getting the veteran and team captain back would be a positive development as the calendar turns from one season to the next.