FOXBOROUGH — Marcus Cannon isn’t sure what the future holds, but he is looking forward to whatever comes his way.
The Patriots offensive lineman, who has played guard and tackle and worked in jumbo packages as a sixth blocker/protector this season, was in uniform for all 16 games during the regular season and recorded four starts, including in the finale against Buffalo.
Coming out of Texas Christian in 2011, Cannon was thought to be a guard at the NFL level despite starting at both tackle spots in college. Listed at 6 feet 5 inches and 335 pounds, and remarkably strong — he set a few school records in the weight room at TCU, including a 750-pound squat (coaches wouldn’t let him attempt anything heavier) — Cannon’s size and strength seemed better suited for interior play, since he lacked the length many tackles have.
When the Patriots opened the season, Cannon was at left guard in place of the traded Logan Mankins. The experiment did not go as planned. Cannon was benched after three games, with reliable veteran Dan Connolly moving over from center.
Quiet and gruff at times, not unlike many of his O-line brethren, Cannon continued to have a role as a reserve, and started at right tackle against the Bills last Sunday when Sebastian Vollmer sat out with a back injury.
Cannon also started eight games, including both postseason contests, in Vollmer’s stead last season. He was asked if he thinks he’ll eventually settle in at tackle with the Patriots.
“I don’t know what the future holds, I just do whatever I can to help,” Cannon said. “If that’s guard, tackle, wherever they want me to play, whatever I can do to help the team, that’s what I’ll do. I don’t like either one of them better than the other, it’s just whichever one they want me to do, that’s what I’ll do to help the team.”
There is no telling which position Cannon might man in the future, but it’s a good bet he will be in New England for a while. Last month, he agreed to a two-year contract extension with a maximum value of $9 million and a $3.2 million signing bonus.
“Last year he had an opportunity to play a lot. I thought he played well,” coach Bill Belichick said of Cannon around the time of the extension. “This year he gives us a lot of depth at a key position. It’s always good to have him on the field. [He] works hard, a very athletic guy, tough . . . He’s improved a lot.”
Cannon will be able to reap the maximum value if he becomes a starter, which of course leads to questions about Nate Solder and Vollmer, and whether either’s days with the Patriots might be numbered.
When the new contract comes up, Cannon seems almost embarrassed and says he’d rather not talk about it, but quickly acknowledges that it means he has to work hard to prove he’s earned it.
He also demurs when the topic of his health scare comes up. During the pre-draft process, Cannon underwent a biopsy for a mass he’d long had near his beltline. A previous needle biopsy had doctors believing it was benign, but a more accurate surgical biopsy showed he had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a treatable form of cancer.
The news stunned Cannon and his family, and caused him to drop from what many believed would be a second-round pick at worst to a fifth-round pick.
On the first day of the draft that year, Cannon reported to a Fort Worth hospital for the first of four chemotherapy treatments.
It turned out to be a scary but temporary setback. Cannon was on the field by November of that year. Now married with two young children, he said, “I just like to move on. I don’t like to dwell on the past. I’m thankful and blessed to know where I’m at today and I’m just looking forward to the future.
“I’m thankful for everything I have. I thank God for everything he’s done for me.”
In the short term, Cannon and the rest of the Patriots’ offensive line will need to improve in the postseason over its performance of the last month or so of the regular season, when protection issues cropped up.
Though the line functions as a unit, Cannon says he must improve. One gets the idea he’s heard from coaches about his shortcomings.
“I myself have to play better. I have to practice better, I have to study better. Just all around, I need to do better,” he said. “I need to do that to give my teammates confidence in me. I can’t speak for everybody else, but that’s what I need to do.
“If something’s not going your way, there’s something that needs to change, and I guess maybe there’s something I need to do better. And there’s always room for improvement, and there’s always something more you can do to play better and to be a better teammate.”
Shalise Manza Young can be reached at syoung@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @shalisemyoung.