He has more than an outside shot

The barbecue ribs that Pierre Woods was heaping on his plate prior to Kevin Faulk's charity softball game Saturday night seemed a fitting metaphor for Woods's enhanced role with the Patriots . With Jason Taylor a Miami Dolphin and Mike Vrabel in Kansas City, Woods, a self-admitted gastronome, could have a lot more on his plate at outside linebacker. He enters the start of organized team activities, which began yesterday with the first day of a camp that ends tomorrow, as the ostensible starter at outside linebacker opposite Adalius Thomas. The former undrafted free agent is aware of both the opportunity that has been placed in front of him and the trepidation surrounding the Patriots' approach to replacing Vrabel, who was traded to Kansas City. Woods is hungry to prove that in his fourth season he can be a starter. ``That's what you prepare for,'' said Woods. ``I was behind great veterans since I've been here. Now I guess it's time for me to step up. It's my turn to do so. I'll just go out there and continue to work hard and continue to learn, be a sponge to another young guy and also still learn from the older guys.'' Woods tried to downplay the significance of Taylor deciding to return to Miami, but he is among the biggest beneficiaries of it. Taylor signed a one-year, $1.1 million deal with the possibility to earn an additional $400,000 in incentives. It's hard to believe the Patriots weren't prepared to pay Taylor more than Woods, who signed his $1.54 million restricted free agent qualifying offer last month, so Taylor apparently sought the familiarity of South Florida. ``I'm not in the front office. I don't know what's going on,'' said Woods. ``I mean, he signed back with Miami, congratulations to Jason Taylor. I'm pretty sure he's happy to be down in Miami with his family, but my job is here and to do and focus on what we have at hand. That's what I'm here for.'' Now that the Patriots know - in Rick Pitino parlance - that Taylor won't be walking through that door, they seem set to fill the vacancy left by the trade of Vrabel from within. The 27-year-old Woods got a taste of starting last season, when Thomas broke his right forearm. Woods, who finished the season with 27 tackles (according to coaches' calculations) and a sack, started three contests in place of Thomas, but suffered a broken jaw in the third game, against Pittsburgh, ending his season. Woods would seem to have an edge over the competition, which includes second-year linebackers Shawn Crable, a 2008 third-round pick who basically received a red-shirt year last season, and Vince Redd and veteran Tully Banta-Cain, whom the Patriots brought back after his failed two-year stint as member of the San Francisco 49ers. In response to a question at a fan forum that asked why the team did not use one of its 12 draft picks on an outside linebacker, Patriots director of pro personnel Nick Caserio said the team has players at the position that it feels good about. ``That means they have confidence in the guys that they have, so that's a great feeling,'' Woods said. ``That's a great compliment to the guys that we have on this team.'' Confidence and belief, however, are different from production and performance. Outside of Thomas, the Patriots' current collection of outside linebackers has a total of 13.5 career sacks, 12.5 of which belong to Banta-Cain, who is a better pass rusher than he is a run defender. That doesn't sound like the prescription to fix the middle-of-the-pack pass rush (31 sacks in 2008, tied for 14th in the NFL). The 6-foot-5-inch, 250-pound Woods has the frame and athleticism to be a pass rusher, but he has just one career sack in limited opportunities. Woods is confident he can rush the passer in the NFL and thus be a three-down linebacker. Teammates are confident in him and the other young players competing at outside linebacker. ``We're extremely confident,'' said safety James Sanders. ``Obviously, if they couldn't play, Bill [Belichick] wouldn't have them here. Those are great young players that are working hard, working extremely hard this offseason.'' You can't question Woods's appetite for success, but as he said when asked why he was piling up the food, it's time for him to step up to the plate. ``I'm very excited. It's a great opportunity,'' said Woods. ``I'm not sure what's going to happen, but I'm going to go out there and just do my job and work hard.'' Christopher L. Gasper can be reached at cgasper@globe.com