FOXBOROUGH - Don't worry about Patriots defensive coordinator Terrell Williams. Despite missing a majority of the offseason program due to what was described as a "health scare", he is now A-ok.
“Oh yeah, I’m ready to go. That’s why I’m here,” Williams said Tuesday morning. “Camp’s been good. I feel great. The guys are practicing hard. So it’s been a good camp so far.”
Williams declined to reveal what his medical issue was, calling it "irrelevant" and no longer something he is dealing with. The 51-year-old also had to be helped off the field earlier this summer, but it was determined he was just dehydrated.
"That can happen to you," he cautioned. "Drink water."
The players have embraced Williams, or "Big T" as he's called, for not only his wisdom, but his ability to liven up the many meetings they have every day. His on-field presence in practice is more subdued. Williams never moved particularly well during my time covering him with the Titans - he is a former collegiate defensive lineman after all - and that hasn't changed here in New England. In fact, after being on the sidelines during games for the entirety of his career, Williams has moved upstairs during the first two preseason games and feels the operation has been smooth.
“It’s been great," he said of calling games for the first time. "I mean, I’m not just saying that because I’m calling the plays. But no, it’s been really good. I mean, we know what we want on defense, and I know what Vrabes (Mike Vrabel) wants. I know what I want, and we all know what we want it to look like on defense, and it’s just the preseason right now. I think our guys are doing a good job of responding to what we’re asking them to do.”
Williams has a specific type of player he wants on his defense. Violent. It's been his message to this group from day one. Considering the Pats have been paced throughout camp - for instance, they've only been in uppers the last two days (no lower pads) - I wondered if Williams had seen enough to make him believe he has that, or if it's still to be determined.
"You can see it when we have pads on," he said. "You can see guys playing with good pad level, using their hands, really, at all levels. The linebackers, I think, are doing a great job of being physical, coming down, hitting offensive linemen, running backs. The DBs are doing a good job. So you can see it, but there is a difference in training camp versus playing in preseason games and then the regular season. So we'll see what it looks like in September."
There are several position groups that Williams knows what he has and how he'll deploy it. But in recent days, there has seemingly been a change at edge, with Keion White being mostly relegated to the second team. K'Lavon Chaisson has assumed that spot. Chaisson has had one of the best camps regardless of what side of the ball we're talking about, while White has continued to look like the same player he's always been: powerful, with an occasional flash, but not much nuance to his game.
"Big, physical guy," Williams said. "Still a young player that has some development to do. But I like where he is right now. So, he's working hard and doing the things that we're asking him to do."
Perhaps, but not well enough to hold off Chaisson, who, despite this being his sixth NFL season, is actually slightly younger than White. Something to keep an eye on for the preseason finale - I suspect White will play and Chaisson will not - and certainly week one against Las Vegas.
ODDS AND ENDS
- We talked to the defensive assistants and Ryan Cowden this morning. Before I give you some quick hitters, here's Williams on Anfernee Jennings and Kyle Dugger, who have both been further down the depth chart than we've been accustomed to seeing.
“In my mind, there is no depth chart right now. We’re just playing guys. So, I don’t know what they were before, or we don’t really look at that. So they’re out there competing, just like the rest of the guys. So doesn’t matter what your status was or what people think it should be; everybody’s out there competing, and those guys are doing a good job.”
He added, “You don’t inherit positions just because you were there last year."
Jennings has a cap hit of $5.3 million. If the team cuts him, they'll save $3 million but incur $2.35 million in dead cap. Dugger's cap hit exceeds $15 million, but would only gain an extra million should they release the safety.
- Mike Smith is the Patriots' outside linebackers coach. He has a great reputation as an excellent developer of pass rushers. Smith said he got goose bumps as he was talking to us about UDFA Elijah Ponder.
“He’s got this very rare ability of picking up things quick and looks like he’s done it from Day 1... Has an extremely bright future. Probably one of the best free agent pickups I’ve ever seen.“
Ponder played on three of the four special teams units on Saturday, and also recorded multiple pressures despite getting chipped. I had him on my first crack at the 53, and I can tell you I'll have him on the second as well.
- Even though Carlton Davis was managing something physically early in camp, cornerbacks coach Justin Hamilton loves the confidence the veteran brings, and noticed something that probably will endear him to the team and fans alike.
"What's funny to me is all three rookies - Kobee (Minor) and Jordan Polk and then Brandon Crossley - they're always with him. Like every time I look up and see one of them, I see the other three that are close by, and that's why I say UNK earlier (Hamilton nicknamed Davis UNK, short for uncle). He prefers Big Bro, but to me, he is a guy who has done this for a long time, and he understands what it takes to be successful in this league, not only as a DB, but just in general. If I were a young player, I would be around him all the time too, trying to just soak up whatever information I could."
I also asked Hamilton about the young corners, specifically Miles Battle and D.J. James. Both have seen considerably more reps with Davis and Christian Gonzalez missing time. James, in particular, has shown up quite a bit.
"What I like about them is that they're guys that are ready when the opportunity presents itself to go and show that they've been preparing," he said. "And in both cases, they've had the opportunity to do that, and there's been good and bad, but at the same time, a lot of times when you don't get all those reps to kind of have the mistakes in the slower periods and then have to go full speed, it's not technically fair, but that's the way the National Football League works. And those guys have stepped up in critical situations, whether it be in practice or in games, and they've gone and performed."