FOXBORO -- Like a baseball umpire, it’s best for an offensive lineman best to toil in anonymity. If anyone talks about you, it’s usually because you’ve screwed up, not because they want to praise your work. But it’s becoming increasingly more difficult not to notice the work of Patriots right tackle Sebastian Vollmer.

After being dogged by injury for most of the 2011 season -- he played in just six games last year because of injuries -- he spent the spring and initial days of training camp on the sidelines because of a reported back condition. But Vollmer has put together an impressive 2012, all while going up against some of the better young pass rushers in the NFL. According to Pro Football Focus -- which has him on their Midseason All-Pro Team -- the big German has allowed just one sack, one hit and 12 hurries in eight games.

After a lost 2011, “Seabass” feels happy about being able to be an important part of the New England offense.

“I feel good,” Vollmer said before practice Tuesday morning as New England returned to action after taking the bye weekend off. “Obviously, having a bye week is always nice, but overall, I feel pretty good. We’ll see how this week goes with Buffalo coming up -- we’re obviously preparing for that. But overall, pretty good.”

“I think he’s played very consistently every week -- it seems like he’s gotten a little bit better and stronger each week,” said Patriots coach Bill Belichick. “He didn’t get a lot of reps in training camp. Even though he worked hard on his conditioning and he was in good shape, it just wasn’t football shape. I think that that’s something that he’s worked, taking more reps in practice and he played gradually more reps in the first two or three games until he was pretty much playing the whole game. I think he’s done a solid job; he’s had a real solid performance this year.”

The 28-year-old, taken in the second round of the 2009 draft by the Patriots out of the University of Houston, was a mainstay on the New England offensive line from an early stage of his professional career: He played in a possible 30 of 32 games in his first two seasons with the Patriots, and was named a second-team All-Pro in 2010.

But last year was a forgettable one for the 6-foot-8, 320-pound German. Because of a variety of injuries -- including back and ankle problems -- he was inactive for 10 regular-season games and two postseason contests. In the end, he played just six games in the regular season and one in the playoffs (Super Bowl XLVI). Per Pro Football Focus, he was part of just 346 offensive snaps, a career-low.

He’s managed to turn that around nicely through the first eight games of 2012. After slowly ramping up his snaps over the course of the preseason, he’s played 582 snaps this year, fifth-best on the offense (behind Ryan Wendell, Nate Solder, Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski). And according to PFF, his grade of +15.8 is tied for fifth among all tackles.

“Every week when you watch film, there are things you want to do better and plays you want to have back or want to do better,” Vollmer said. “That’s the approach you take -- you can have a phenomenal personal season, and it doesn’t really matter. You want to improve your own skills.”

Vollmer brings multiple skills to the table -- tackles are called on primarily as pass blockers trying to keep rushers away from the quarterback. But Vollmer is also an accomplished run blocker, working a key part of an offensive line that has rolled up the second-most total rushing yards in the AFC (1,197) and second-most rushing yards per game in the AFC (149.6).

“As an offensive lineman, it’s good to hit somebody,” Vollmer said when asked about the physical nature of run blocking. “You want to be physical. You embrace that -- you take a certain pride in it. Obviously, you hope every week [the offense] works out, but it also depends on how the game goes -- if you have to pass the ball or whatever. But it feels good to hit somebody.”

Vollmer is part of an offensive line that has undergone some serious change since the end of last season. The Patriots lost veteran left tackle Matt Light to retirement, while longtime center Dan Koppen was released before the start of the season. In addition, left guard Logan Mankins -- who underwent offseason knee surgery -- has dealt with his share of bumps and bruises over the first eight games, missing three contests of his own with calf and hip problems.

But even with all those shifting parts, Vollmer likes where they are as a group midway through the season.

“I think we can review the whole situation at the end of the year, but so far, so good, I’d say,” he said of the group which didn’t allow a single sack or quarterback hit last Sunday against the Rams. “As a unit, I think we are improving -- like it should be. Every game should be better than the previous one, and I think that’s the approach you take. You watch film, see the mistakes you make and you don’t want to repeat them. You build on the good stuff, and I think that’s what we’re doing. Hopefully, we put a better game together next week and the week after that.”