With the Pats trying to place as many serviceable bodies on the 53-man roster, a guy like Ninkovich -- who is a nice backup outside linebacker and has good special teams value -- can do more things than starting long snapper Jake Ingram. That, in essence, could cause head coach Bill Belichick to flirt with the idea of carrying Ninkovich over Ingram, which could help the Patriots carry an extra defensive lineman or linebacker. However, Ninkovich said his reps at long snapper have been for the purpose of keeping him fresh in case he's ever needed in an emergency, such as an injury to Ingram.
Ingram had a flawless rookie season in 2009, and it appears his job security is just fine. Yet, he and Ninkovich spend plenty of time discussing long snapping away from the field to make sure each one can experience a high level of success when their number is called.
"We're kind of similar," Ninkovich said. "We're not blind snappers, so we look where we're throwing the ball, so we have a similar style. I've been doing it so long that he'll show me something on his hand placement if the ball is wet, use a seem. There's certain things. Field goal, give the laces, rotate the ball a bit differently. It's something we talk about. We're pretty good friends, so on and off the field, we talk about snapping all the time."
