By Randy Whitehouse,Staff Writer

FOXBORO – He’s been the only offensive lineman to start on all three of New England’s Super Bowl champions, but the Patriots have bigger plans for left tackle Matt Light.

“We have a lot of confidence with him on the left side. I think that there is still room for improvement,” said head coach Bill Belichick. “He knows, and we certainly have told him, that there is a higher point he can take his game to.”

Taking his game to another level would elevate Light into the company of the league’s elite tackles, with players such as Seattle’s Walter Jones and Baltimore’s Jonathan Ogden. Such behemoths are considered cornerstone tackles that teams build their offensive lines around.

Technically, Light already fills that definition. He just doesn’t have the Pro Bowl recognition that the likes of Jones and Ogden have. Joe Andruzzi defected to Cleveland via free agency during the off-season, leaving Light as the only remaining lineman who started for the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI. That was his rookie year.

Since then, the center (Damien Woody), two guards (Mike Compton and Andruzzi) and the other tackle (Greg Robinson-Randall) have all been replaced.

Yet Light’s name isn’t typically brought up when the authors of New England’s championship run are discussed. Forget Tom Brady, Light is rarely mentioned with other constants, like Willie McGinest, Troy Brown or Mike Vrabel.

That suits the 305-pound Purdue product just fine, given the nature of his position.

“If you hear my name, it probably means that I’m not doing too well,” he said.

“As an offensive lineman, it’s not like they’re praising you on every play, anyway,” he added. “The focus isn’t on you.”

Offensive linemen shy away from the spotlight for good reason. Television directors find the lineman’s duties too boring to replay a well-executed trap block or textbook pass protection very often. But woe to the tackle who gets beat around the corner by a Dwight Freeney for a sack.

“That is a tough position to play,” Belichick said. “I mean, they’re all tough, but that one is tough with some of the players you face over there, the Jason Taylors and the John Abrahams and the (Aaron) Schoebels.”

Yet Light has more than held his own against the game’s top pass rushers, and has done it with a chameleon-like Patriot offense that has adjusted its offensive philosophy not just from season to season, but week to week.

“The things that we do here offensively, I don’t think that they’re too technical. We try to keep things pretty simple so that when we try to go out there and execute them, we can do so at a very fast pace and there’s not a lot of guesswork,” Light said. “And I think at the same time, we’re very heads-up with what is going on around us, and we do pretty well at making the changes that we need to make, which isn’t an easy thing to do. So you’ve got to be flexible.”

Flexibility has its rewards in the Belichick system. Players are valued more for the variety of positions they can play. Yet Light is one of the few linemen who hasn’t been asked to change jobs. Going into this season, he’s started 60 straight games at left tackle.

That streak may be in jeopardy for this Thursday night’s season opener against the Oakland Raiders. Light missed the final two games of the preseason with a leg injury and his status for the opener was uncertain at press time.

If he is sidelined, he will probably warrant little more than a footnote on the national telecast. Unless, of course, the Raiders are in Brady’s face all night, then Light will probably get more attention in absentia than when he’s actually on the field.