Patriots LB Gary Guyton begins the battle for his own starting spot… and links!

One of the most awkward things in sports, I always think, is when a starter misses significant time with an injury and returns to find someone else has taken his parking spot. Or starting spot. And every coach handles it differently, most players approach it differently, and every situation is different. It’s always awkward. But regardless, that seems to be the situation for Gary Guyton right now. The third-year linebacker from Georgia Tech, who just received a new contract, started the entire 2009 season alongside Jerod Mayo. And when Mayo missed a few games, Guyton wore the green dot of the play-caller. Yet he went down two weeks ago with what I thought was a knee injury that was apparently a hamstring injury, and all everyone talked about in his absence was Brandon Spikes. Cool, but that dude plays Guyton’s position. How does Guyton handle it? (more…)