FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) – Asante Samuel’s preseason holdout gave New England Patriots’ top draft pick Brandon Meriweather a chance to show his flexibility.

Meriweather, the team’s top choice this past April, played mostly safety during his collegiate days at Miami. When cornerback Samuel held out before accepting the franchise tag earlier in the week, the 23-year old Meriweather logged some time at corner. But in the Patriots’ 27-20 win over the New York Giants in the teams’ preseason finale on Thursday night, the 24th pick overall was playing the position where he earned his place into the NFL.

“Yes, it worked out that way that we were able to give him an opportunity to play, really, all three positions corner, nickel back and safety,” coach Bill Belichick said in a conference call with the media Friday. “The way that things fell last night with the players, we had more corners available than safeties, so it was good to be able to get him some playing time at safety.”

Meriweather, wearing No. 31, was involved often during the game, collecting six tackles and three assists in a game played by mostly reserves.

With corner Chad Scott lost for the season with a knee injury suffered in late July, Meriweather may be used in a number of roles this season. Along with a backup at corner, it gives the team another option for veteran safety Rodney Harrison, coming off consecutive injury-shortened seasons.

“Going forward, we’ll just have to decide what the best thing for him and the team is in terms of the positions that he plays,” Belichick said. “I do feel like he gives us some depth at all of those spots. We’ll just have to prioritize how it’s going to go and it may change from game to game, too. It may not stay the same every week. We’ll just have to take it as it comes. We thought he would have flexibility coming into our system and he’s shown that he does have some.”

If Thursday’s game is any indication, the team will benefit from his return to safety.

Regulars rarely play much in the final exhibition game, but Belichick went to the extreme, using only 42 of his 75 players.

That gave Meriweather a chance to play a number of plays, including special teams.

“He has a lot of work to do, but he’s shown some versatility and some playmaking ability on the defensive side of the ball, and showed up a little bit in the kicking game last night too, so that was good,” Belichick said.

Final rosters need to be completed by 4 p.m. Saturday, and Belichick said Thursday night’s game gave many reserves a chance to show their own versatility. “I was impressed with the way the team played. We didn’t really play very many players, but we got a good long look at them,” he said.

“A number of those guys played on a lot of special teams plays as well as their offensive and defensive units.” Teams are allowed 53 players after the cut-down, but the Patriots have an exemption for Samuel and can carry 54 until Sept. 10, one day after the team’s season opener at the New York Jets.

AP-ES-08-31-07 1719EDT