ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. - The New England Patriots ended last year's Super Bowl with two subs in the secondary.

This year, they're starting the game that way.

The Patriots will face the Philadelphia Eagles with a patchwork defensive backfield that features a converted receiver, an undrafted free agent and a guy who was out of football most of the year.

"We've got a lot of talented guys on our defense that are really versatile," linebacker Willie McGinest said. "I think that's what makes us so special."

It goes beyond the secondary. Most of the linebackers played on the defensive line in college.

"If you're backing up a guy, you've got to definitely be ready to step in at any time," McGinest said. "First string, second string - whatever - everybody gets reps, everybody prepares hard, everybody understands the game plan because we've been in situations in the last few years where you have two guys go down and other guys step in and play really well."

The Patriots won their second NFL title in three years last season, holding off the Carolina Panthers in the Super Bowl despite losing both safeties during the game - Rodney Harrison to a broken arm and Eugene Wilson to a groin injury.

This year, the problem is with the cornerbacks. Tyrone Poole was injured in Week 3, and Ty Law, a four-time Pro Bowl selection, went out four games later.

The Patriots have since subbed and shuffled and managed to finish 14-2 for the second consecutive season. In the playoffs, they shut down NFL MVP Peyton Manning and rookie of the year Ben Roethlisberger in back-to-back weeks.

Harrison and Wilson have settled in at safety, with rookie Randall Gay and Asante Samuel at the corners, backed up by wide receiver Troy Brown and Hank Poteat, a former Steelers special teamer who had gone back to get his college degree when the Patriots signed him last month.

The defensive line features end Richard Seymour, an All-Pro who missed the last three games with a leg injury. McGinest plays linebacker with Ted Johnson, Mike Vrabel and Tedy Bruschi, who was added to the Pro Bowl this week.

"Guys like that, most teams would die to have," Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb said. "No one really talks about them."

Instead, most of the attention has been paid to the secondary and its struggles to make it from week to week. The one constant has been Harrison.

"Rodney is the glue of our secondary," said Gay, who went from an undrafted free agent to starter because of the injuries. "He has more experience than all of us together."

Harrison passed that on to his teammates.

"Right after Ty got hurt, he came to me and told me that I was the starter and that he expected me to play like a starter. ... He would always tell me, `If you want to stay here, you need to listen to me,'" Gay said. "I have been listening to him and now I am starting in the Super Bowl. So it has meant a lot to me."

The secondary was New England's biggest question heading into its first playoff game, against the Indianapolis Colts and their record-setting quarterback. Manning was unable to take advantage of them, and the Patriots won 20-3.

"It's a great testament to him. He's able to really just go out there and play well regardless of who is next to him," linebacker Don Davis said of Harrison. "He's like, `Yeah, put him there and then we're going to get it done.'"

When he joined the Patriots in 2003, Harrison brought with him a reputation as one of the dirtiest players in the league. In his second practice with New England, he clocked Brown on a route across the middle, flattened running back Kevin Faulk and had words with offensive lineman Matt Light.

But a month later, Harrison had so impressed his teammates that a group asked coach Bill Belichick to make him one of the defensive captains.

"He's a crazy man. That's my dog," Eagles safety Brian Dawkins said. "I love the way he plays the game. Almost every play you see him getting into it with somebody, some kind of altercation. He's always been that way."

Harrison remains one of the most-frequently fined players in the NFL, having been docked more than $350,000 for illegal hits in his career. The letters from NFL discipline czar Gene Washington have become so routine that Harrison doesn't bother reading them; the fines are automatically deducted from his paychecks.

"I don't worry about the money. ... I'm going to keep playing the way I play," Harrison said. "Of course it pays off because they look for you and they know who you are - even though they don't vote for you (for the Pro Bowl) and you don't have many friends around the league.

"But, when you get that respect and you have guys come up to you and tell you, `I don't like you, but I love the way you play,' that's all you ask for."