LeGarrette Blount,Dion Lewis

New England Patriots running backs LeGarrette Blount (29) and Dion Lewis (33) pose after an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2016, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

(Elise Amendola)

Dion Lewis will not be rusty when the Patriots begin their postseason in a few weeks.

The New England coaching staff has made sure of that.

Lewis, who debuted in Week 11 versus San Francisco, has seen his playing time increase over the past few weeks. And the Pats continue to feed Lewis the ball whenever he is on the field.

Consider this: A year ago, as a dynamic and important piece of the Patriots offense, Lewis carried the ball or was the target of a pass on 33.2 percent of his 298 offensive snaps.

In 2016, he has taken a handoff or been the target of a pass on a staggering 55.1 percent of his snaps. That number compares favorably to some of the league's true workhorse running backs.

Le'Veon Bell: 355 rush attempts/targets on 781 snaps (45.4 percent)

David Johnson: 404 rush attempts/targets on 949 snaps (42.5 percent)

Ezekiel Elliot: 362 rush attempts/targets on 716 snaps (50.5 percent)

DeMarco Murray: 348 rush attempts/targets on 828 snaps (42 percent)

LeSean McCoy: 285 rush attempts/targets on 631 snaps (45.2 percent)

Interestingly, LeGarrette Blount actually has a higher touch/snap ratio, seeing the ball on 58 percent of his snaps.

This is somewhat unsurprising, though. Blount is a one-dimensional back who does not play in passing situations. For Lewis, who is capable on all three downs and is often on the field when the Pats throw, 55.1 percent is awfully high.

Perhaps the Patriots have decided to feed Lewis the ball to ensure that his body is ready to touch the ball 20+ times in a playoff game if called upon.

"I think any time a player is coming back from missing a significant amount of time, there's a certain buildup process," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said in reference to Lewis prior to his Week 11 debut. "Sometimes that accelerates, sometimes it doesn't, sometimes it just stays on a straight line course. It's hard to predict how that's going to go. There's a big difference between training and playing football. You can run around a track, run up and down a hill, do 10,000 pushups and all of that. I mean, that's great, but that's not being out there with 21 other guys playing football. Football is football."

Perhaps the Patriots have relied heavily on Lewis simply because he is one of their best players. Against Denver, in one of the biggest games of the year, the Pats trusted Lewis with 18 carries. He produced a career-high 95 yards, most of which were generated on tough, between-the-tackles runs.

In the past two weeks, the 5-foot-8, 195-pound Lewis has been used primarily as an early down back, carrying 34 times while seeing just four targets in the passing game.

After shouldering significant workloads in back-to-back games, Lewis' role versus the Dolphins in Week 17 could be reduced as the Pats await the playoffs.