The new-look New England Patriots face great expectations this season. That’s what happens when a franchise legend (Mike Vrabel) returns as head coach and the team spends big to overhaul the roster.
The biggest offseason additions, aside from wide receiver Stefon Diggs, sit on defense: cornerback Carlton Davis III, linebacker Robert Spillane, and defensive tackle Milton Williams.
That has the New England coaches using the variation of one word to describe the revamped defense: violent.
“We are going to make sure on tape, day in and day out, that people see our violence,” safeties coach Scott Booker told Masslive.com’s Karen Guregian at a recent availability with the coaching staff. “And it’s not just in tackling, it’s in re-routing, it’s in everything you do.”
So what does that mean?
“Being aggressive – being violent,” inside linebackers coach Zak Kuhr told Guregian.
“Not turning down blocks. Having a good toolbox of tools to defeat the offensive player, but it’s not just always finesse. There is some physicality there and some violence. We’re huge into guys that don’t mind playing violent football.”
“In press-man, we’re going to be a challenging, violent defense, and it’s great to have those guys do that without having to push and prod them,” Booker said, per Guregian. “That’s in their DNA, and we’re just going to bring that out.”
Former Patriots linebacker and current WEEI analyst Ted Johnson, who played alongside Vrabel in New England, finds the team’s new defensive approach compelling.
“The fact that they’re highlighting it … I guess they didn’t think prior defenses played with that (violence),” Johnson said, according to Guregian.
“It is an interesting choice of words because it does signal a bit of a different message to the player. ‘Oh, they want violence’ … Then that becomes focused on the attitude which you approach your job.
“If you think of ‘we want to be violent’ that’s not a term typically used, but it seems like they want to over-emphasize it in some way, the aggressiveness in the way they want to play.”
The Patriots certainly need more from the defense this year. Last season, New England ranked 22nd in total yards allowed per game (343.4), 23rd in rush yards allowed per game (131.4) and 22nd in points allowed per game (24.5).
