FOXBORO -- Trying to figure out the overall impact of Albert Haynesworth on this year’s Patriots defense is a tricky proposition.

When he’s been healthy and on the field, he’s been one of New England’s most disruptive defensive linemen, routinely occuping two and three blockers. The problem? Compared to many of his fellow veterans along the defensive line, he hasn’t been on the field all that often -- through seven games, he’s played just 123 of a possible 494 defensive total snaps. (He missed two games because of a back injury.) That has held him back as he not only continues his assimilation into the Patriots’ defense, but an overall re-entry into the game after spending much of the last two years on the shelf in Washington.

“The more comfortable I get in the situation, the more ... you’ll see more production,” the 6-foot-6, 350-pound Haynesworth said before practice on Wednesday. “(But) I feel fine. I’m starting to learn the scheme and how we play it.

“(I) just want to be myself and play like I normally do. That’s it. Anyway I can help the team, that’s my goal,” he added. “I’m still knocking off rust. I still haven’t played really for two years. It’s a step-by-step process.”

With the Patriots this season, Haynesworth has been used mostly as a backup in the base defense behind Kyle Love and a rusher in sub packages on third down. In that time, even without a sack, he has established himself as a real threat when it comes to the pass rush. According to Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus, Haynesworth has eight pressures and two knockdowns. That’s pressure once every 7.8 snaps rushing the passer -- by way of comparison, Monson notes that Ndamukong Suh is applying pressure once every 12.2 snaps rushing the passer. (Of course, Suh has played far more snaps to this point in the season than Haynesworth, but the percentage is still impressive.)

“Haynesworth has been good, if not great, when he has played,” wrote Monson in an email to WEEI.com. “Haynesworth has always been effective when he has played -- he’s too physically gifted not to be. Even when he was seen as mailing it in for the Redskins, he was still making plays and causing problems for offenses when he was on the field (either side of the odd bad play which people would highlight).”

“If he can deal with it physically, I would always look to rachet up Haynesworth’s playing time.”

When Haynesworth has been on the field on a regular basis, the Patriots have been able to rush four players and drop others into coverage, confusing the quarterback and often leading to pressure and interceptions. In the season opener against Miami, he drew a pair of holding penalties on Miami offensive lineman Richie Incognito, and managed to get his hands on quarterback Chad Henne, spinning him to the ground. (The Miami game was where he saw his most action, playing 30 of a possible 77 snaps.) And against Dallas, on Andre Carter’s second sack of the game, it was Haynesworth who occupied three blockers, allowing Carter to beat his man around the edge without a problem to pull down Tony Romo.

That’s not to say it’s been perfect. Against the Jets -- a week after returning from a two-game absence because of a back injury -- he appeared to struggle at times against a depleted New York offensive line. But he since followed that up with solid, back-to-back outings against the Cowboys and Steelers. In the Pittsburgh game, while there were defensive breakdowns among the secondary and linebackers, the defensive line was the least of the worries for New England, particularly Haynesworth and Kyle Love. Haynesworth had four quarterback pressures in just 22 snaps, and according to Pro Football Focus, Haynesworth and Love were the only two New England defenders to grade out positively against the Steelers when it came to rushing the passer.

He hasn’t seen the field as often as the coaches would like, but to this point, you have to imagine that the Patriots will take the trade off -- Haynesworth was slated to earn a $5.4 million base salary this season, but reworked it to a $1.5 million base with playing-time incentives that could eventually pay him as much as $5.85 million -- as long as he continues a progression in the direction he’s seemingly headed.

“Look, this game’s about November, December. And I think the key component for Albert Haynesworth isn’t whether he plays tremendously in the month of September, it’s, ‘Can he be a force in November and December when they have to win those games and win playoff games?’ And I think that’s really the goal for Albert Haynesworth,” NFL Network Mike Lombardi told WEEI earlier in the season. “I think it’s most important to get him in shape, get him healthy, and then get him ready for November and December.”