The Patriots signed veteran outside linebacker Tully Banta-Cain to a three-year, $19 million contract in the offseason, and handed him a starting job in training camp. But it looks as though Banta-Cain has officially relinquished that position to rookie Jermaine Cunningham, who made his third straight start in the Patriots’ 23-20 overtime victory over the Ravens on Sunday. Cunningham, selected in the second round with the 53rd overall pick in April, missed the entire preseason with an ankle injury. You couldn’t miss him Sunday. The 6-foot-3, 260-pound Florida product with Kevin McHale-like arms had six tackles, including one for a 3-yard loss on running back Ray Rice in the first quarter. He also strip-sacked Joe Flacco in the second quarter, although the quarterback recovered the fumble. All in all, an active and productive day for a defense that might have found someone to fill the rather large void it has in the playmaker department. “I thought Jermaine played very aggressively,” coach Bill Belichick said yesterday. “He certainly had some good plays, some big plays. He made a good pass rush there, got a holding penalty on (Michael) Oher, made some good plays in the running game. “He’s still got a long way to go, but he’s working hard, and I thought he did play very aggressively, which is what we need at that position.” Belichick also had high praise for Rob Ninkovich, the other starting outside linebacker in the Patriots’ 3-4 defense. Ninkovich contributed to an effort that limited the Ravens to 99 yards on 34 carries (a 2.9 average). Rice had Baltimore’s longest run of the afternoon, 8 yards. “Our other outside linebackers did a pretty good job of keeping Rice from really busting a lot of plays outside, which he’s been known to do,” Belichick said. “And then our inside defenders did a good enough job of trying to keep him contained. He’s a really hard guy to shut down.”
Not DE eligible. Burn.
