FOXBORO — The trio of Richard Seymour, Vince Wilfork and Ty Warren served as New England’s defensive front three on a fairly consistent basis from 2004 through 2008. But with the departure of Seymour before the start of the 2009 season, and the season-ending injury to Warren before the start of the 2010 season, Patriots coach Bill Belichick has been forced to do some shuffling up front.

That shuffling has extended into this season — New England has run several defensive linemen through the system over the last six months, including veterans like Damione Lewis, veteran Mike Wright and youngsters like Ron Brace and Myron Pryor. In the process, they have had six different starting groups through the first six games.

But over the last two games, a rotation of Vince Wilfork at one defensive end, Gerard “Big Money” Warren at nose tackle and rookie Brandon Deaderick at the other defensive end has paid dividends. It’s a big, beefy trio that has made a difference, particularly in the running game: Through the first four games, the Patriots had yielded 4.4 yards per carry. Since the change in personnel made up front, that number has been slashed more than a half-yard to 3.8 yards per carry, an impressive decrease. In the last two weeks the Patriots’ opponents have carried the ball 53 times for 137 yards, a paltry 2.6 yards per carry.

Positional versatility under Belichick is nothing new, but it’s unique for a defensive line to be as flexible — and display a willingness to switch for the good of the team — as this group has.

“They’ve been really good. It’s a very flexible group. Those guys have a lot of versatility. They’ve played different positions in training camp,” Belichick said of the front three. “I think part of it is by playing another position they understand how that affects their position and what responsibilities the position next to them has, and that probably helps them a little bit.

“But they’ve been really good about that, and in practice they have moved around and taken reps at different spots. It gives us depth and gives us some flexibility in terms of where we want to deploy those guys on different packages or different calls.”

There’s been a lot of movement up front: Gerard Warren started the season at left defensive end, then flipped over to the right side for two games before settling in at nose tackle against the Ravens where he has been ever since. Wilfork started the season at nose tackle, but over the last three games, he has flipped from left to right and back to left defensive end again. As for the rookie Deaderick, he got his first start at left defensive end against the Ravens, but then moved to right defensive end against the Chargers.

“It’s an advantage that our team has, being able to play different guys at different positions and different techniques and being productive. That’s the key to it,” Warren said. “It comes with the job. You just have to be ready to play whatever position you play whatever position they want you to play.”

While the emergence of Deaderick — he has two sacks since he was inserted into the starting lineup — and the continued strong play of Warren up front have played a big role in their success, a big chunk of credit goes to Wilfork.

A Pro Bowler at nose tackle, the Miami product made the move to defensive end before the Oct. 4 game against the Dolphins. He’s played at end before — including a memorable stint there against Miami last season — but never for as an extended stretch.

“Vince is a very versatile player. I think he has handled it well,” Belichick said. “He’s smart. He line stunts and understands protections and pass rushes, and reads plays very quickly — blocking schemes. He’s excellent at all of that and provides great leadership for the other guys on the line. He not only plays his position, but helps the other guys play better.

“I think that’s really the mark of an outstanding player: a guy that can elevate the play of the players around him, either with what he’s doing or in doing things that help other guys and give them better opportunities. He’s very unselfish about that. There are a lot of plays that get made that he is a big factor in causing the play, even though he’s not the final guy that makes the tackle and gets the credit for it.”

Warren, in his first season with the Patriots, isn’t surprised that Wilfork has taken the move in stride. He’s admired Wilfork’s play from afar for a long time, and hasn’t been disappointed, calling him a “stand-up guy” and “phenomenal athlete.”

“I’ve been watching him since he was in college, so I’ve been waiting to see how he was going to be when he got to the NFL,” Warren said. “Once he got drafted by New England, I was like, ‘Nose tackle.’ That’s what I was thinking. But as you could see, he plays defensive end as well. Phenomenal athlete. A stand-up guy on and off the field. He takes his job very seriously.”

The trio will get their chance to build on their strong, physical performances over the last two weeks on Sunday when the Patriots face Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson and the Minnesota Vikings. While Warren acknowledges it’d be nice to “put another loss” on Favre’s record, their primary goal — as it has been since they were first assembled — is to put the brakes on Peterson and the rest of the Minnesota running game.

“It’s part of the way we play football — we want to stop the run. That’s part of our job,” Warren said. “We’ve been a little physical, but it’s more important to go in and stop the run and try to make teams one-dimensional.”