FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Fantasy football owners would like some clarity about the New England Patriots' plans at running back without LeGarrette Blount, who led the club with 18 rushing touchdowns in 2016.

So, too, would Patriots running backs coach Ivan Fears.

"Somebody has to play big for us. We have enough guys we know can play finesse football. Somebody has to play power football for us. We have to find out who is going to do that," Fears said Wednesday.

The 250-pound Blount was that player for the Patriots in 2013, 2015 and 2016, but perhaps because his average yards per rush declined from 5.0 to 4.3 to 3.9 in those seasons, the club didn't seem too aggressive in attempting to re-sign him as a free agent in the offseason.

So Blount is now in Philadelphia, and Fears is curious to see who steps in as his primary replacement.

"I think a lot of those guys are capable of doing that," the personable Fears began. "Freakin' James White ran the power offense when he was at Wisconsin, so what are we talking about it? But he has to do it for us here.

"Not just him. Whether it's Mike [Gillislee], whether it's Rex [Burkhead], or Brandon Bolden, somebody has to step up and be the big back when we need one. And all those roles that come up in the game, we have to find someone to fit those roles. I think we will."

The 5-foot-11, 219-pound Gillislee, who signed a two-year deal for an average of around $3 million per season as a restricted free agent from the Buffalo Bills, is a top option. He was slowed in spring practices with an undisclosed leg injury, but Fears sounds excited about seeing what he can do.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! This is kind of a very exciting moment for us. We're going to be in pads. We're going to be up against people. We're going to see exactly what we got," he said.

"I think a lot of those guys, we think we got something. But you never know until they do it. I can't do it for them. They have to do it."

While White is considered more of a passing-game back, Fears isn't ruling him out as a possible early-down rusher.

"He scored two touchdowns for us in that doggone game, the Super Bowl, so James definitely has the rushing ability, he just has to get some opportunities to do it," he said. "It's so hard to do when we're spreading stuff around, and we're a game-plan team. He does what he does, and he does it very well. He's got to do that for us so we win.

"If we get an opportunity to give him a chance to carry the ball or two, that's going to be fine. I have no problem with that, I really don't. We'll try to do whatever it takes to win the game. That's what it's going to be all about."

As for the diminutive and quick Dion Lewis (5-8, 195), Fears likes what he has seen to this point.

"Let's put it this way: He's moving very well. He has been moving very well all offseason -- in the OTAs and all that. He looks really good," he said. "[But] it doesn't count there. It counts what happens out here now."

Lewis was clearly affected by both his 2015 knee injury (torn ACL) and the follow-up surgery a year later, setbacks that led to him starting the season on the physically unable to perform list.

"Even if it's just mentally, when you go through that kind of surgery, and rebuilding and starting all over again, it takes time to get back to where you were," Fears said.

Summing up the running back corps, which also includes second-year player D.J. Foster and undrafted LeShun Daniels Jr., Fears added, "I'm happy for every one of those son of a guns and the challenge that it's going to be to see who comes out on top."