FOXBORO — They’re five mild-mannered men. The nicest guys you ever want to meet off the football field. But when Tom Brady relays the call in the huddle for some type of running play, Trent Brown, Joe Thuney, David Andrews, Shaq Mason and Marcus Cannon transform.

Good luck to any defender crossing their path.

As a group, they like to think they can push back any defensive line. Throw in fullback James Develin and tight end Rob Gronkowski, and that makes them even more bad to the bone.

Not many people thought the Patriots would attempt to run on the Vikings front Sunday.

The Patriots linemen?

There never was a doubt. They think they can move any defensive front and create space for their backs. With the 11th-best rushing offense in the NFL, it’s hard to argue.

“As an offensive line, you definitely want to run the ball, impose your will on the opposite team,” Mason said. “When you run the ball well, that opens up other things. You can play complementary football. It’s definitely a goal of ours to get the run going and impose our will.”

Every line tries to gain that edge, and this group especially loves to run block because it shows how physical and tough they are. The Patriots weren’t afraid to run against that Vikings wall given the confidence they have in their offensive line. They challenged it 39 times for 160 yards.

“I think we can be a physical football team. It just comes down to fundamentals, grinding it out and playing from ahead,” Andrews said. “We can play physical. We can play tough.”

There was considerable emphasis on the words “physical” and “tough.” Maybe Dion Lewis’ words about his former team being soft really struck a nerve with some, especially the boys up front who routinely opened holes for him to gain yards.

There’s little question the offensive line has been one of the strengths of this football team. The offense might not be clicking on all cylinders just yet, but it’s certainly not a result of having an inferior offensive line.

There was one rough game against Tennessee, Lewis’ current team, but for the most part Dante Scarnecchia’s unit has been stellar.

Dolphins coach Adam Gase, who voiced some surprise at being beaten up physically during the Fins’ 38-7 loss Week 4 at Gillette, knows his group has to be up for a serious trench war Sunday in Miami.

“They’re well-coached, they’re disciplined, you don’t see many errors where guys are turning free. You see those guys fight to the very end,” Gase said during a conference call. “It hasn’t changed. There’s a good reason why. Coach Scarnecchia does a great job. He prepares those guys. When they show up on Sunday, you know you’re in for a dogfight for 60 minutes.”

It helps that four of the five guys have played together at least three seasons. Brown is the newcomer to the line, but he’s blended in after taking over at left tackle, replacing Nate Solder, who left in free agency. Cannon is the oldest in the group. He was a fifth-round draft choice in 2011. Mason and Andrews arrived in 2015, Thuney in 2016.

Former Patriots center Dan Koppen, who was part of two Super Bowl-winning teams, said continuity is vital, especially when establishing trust and getting down and dirty in the trenches.

“For an offensive line, it’s important to be comfortable with the guys around you, to be on the same page. We had that when I played,” said Koppen, when reached recently. “There wasn’t a lot of communication that needed to be said. You just knew the guys were going to do the right thing. They were going to be in the right position. When you’re working together, in order to be successful, an offensive line has to be doing the same thing at the same time. When you’re comfortable, and you trust one another, that’s part of it. One of the most important things for an offensive line is being able to trust one another.”

Mason, who signed a five-year, $50 million extension, at first laughed at the description of the players turning into mean, menaces once they get between the lines. But he didn’t downplay it either.

“In between those lines, business is business,” Mason said of the O’line’s phone-booth like change into super blockers. “That’s the best way to put it.”