Tuesday Patriots Notebook 2/24: Collins a Special Player, Gronkowski Focused on His Offseason Workouts, More Notes
 Collins has become a game-changing player in the Patriots defense. (USA TODAY Images) |
It was just over two years ago that we first heard the name Jamie Collins, although at the time we had no idea he would be drafted by the Patriots, let alone become the player he's been in their defense.
In 2013 during the NFL combine, Collins caught the attention of quite a few scouts following what was considered to be one of the better performances of the weekend.
He came within an inch of breaking the event record with a 41.5-inch vertical leap, ran a 4.64 40-yard dash, and led every linebacker who was there after recording an 11-foot, 7-inch broad jump. It was quite a showing, and clearly the Patriots liked what they saw because they went on to take him in the 2nd round with the 52nd overall selection.
On paper it's impressive but the thing that's actually more intriguing is the fact that knowing how hard it is to stand out even when a player comes from a winning program, Collins came from a winless Southern Miss team in 2012 before the 2013 draft. When the Golden Eagles hosted their Pro Day following the Combine that February, Collins opted to let the impression he made at the Combine stand and stood on his numbers, opting instead to have teams look at him in private workouts. Two teams that he reportedly met with prior to the draft included the Bills and Steelers, and New Orleans was also said to be interested after sending four scouts to his Pro Day.
Fortunately he obviously ended up in New England, and looking back at what happened in Arizona it's hard not to appreciate the fact that Collins was a key factor in the Patriots victory over the Seahawks. He finished the game as the team's leading tackler, leading all Patriots defenders with eight.
Overall in 2014 Collins lead the team by a landslide with 115 total tackles during the regular season, and was also the team's leader in tackles on third down with 22, including three QB hits and one tackle for a loss. In the postseason he also led the team in tackles with 23, recorded two QB Hits, one interception, and was tied for the team lead in passes defenssed with Devin McCourty and Malcolm Butler with three.
That just emphasizes how athletic he is and back in December Bill Belichick did something pretty surprising and praised the second-year player, admitting that Collins is a pretty special guy.
"Look, Jamie Collinses don't ... it's not like there’s two or three dozen of them in the draft every year," Belichick said at the time. "We're lucky to have one. Was Lawrence Taylor a prototype outside linebacker? Where’s the next Lawrence Taylor? Those guys don’t grow on trees."
"I think that's part of building your team is trying to anticipate where your team is going and to a certain extent where, especially defensively because you have to react to what they put on the field. Defensively you have to be able to defend those things. How do you construct the defense so you can handle the different challenges that you have?"
Easy, you take advantage of the opportunity when it presents itself and fortunately Belichick didn't miss out on snatching the linebacker away from the rest of the league. He's been a tremendous addition that should hopefully serve this team well for the foreseeable future, and adding "Super Bowl Champion" to his resume in just his second season doesn't hurt.
Needless to say he should be fun to continue to watch in the years to come and as Belichick said, they're lucky to have him.
 Collins may only be in his second year, but he played like an experieneced veteran last season. (USA TODAY Images) |
COLLINS RECORD FALLS AT THE COMBINE:
As they say, records are made to be broken and a local player made a name for himself this weekend after putting up some impressive numbers.
University of Connecticut cornerback Byron Jones set a combine record in the broad jump, leaping 12-feet-3 inches, eight inches ahead of the previously mentioned total by Collins, which had been the previous record.
Interestingly enough according to the official school website for UConn, Jones' leap also topped the official World Record in the track event, which is held by Norwegian Arne Tvervaag, who jumped 3.71 meters (12 feet, two inches) on November 11, 1968.
His record may have fallen, but that shouldn't take anything away from Collins' accomplishment given the fact that he's a linebacker and Jones is a cornerback, so obviously they're two different body types. But, like Collins, that type of athleticism should hopefully help his stock rise. He's reportedly recovering from shoulder surgery which prevented Jones from running his 40-yard dash, but he'll apparently run one when the team holds their pro day.
The Patriots last defensive back drafted out of UConn was Darius Butler, who was taken in the 2nd round by New England back in 2009 but was never able to settle in and is now a member of the Indianapolis Colts.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
The Patriots are obviously the Champions of the league, but apparently the Pittsburgh Steelers weren't interested in comparing themselves to Bill Belichick's group. According to Mike Prisuta of the Steelers' official site, Pittsburgh is more focused on making sure they measure up better to Baltimore instead of New England, since the Ravens were the team that knocked them out of the postseason. “We don’t get to compare ourselves to anyone else but Baltimore in my opinion because (the Ravens) are the ones that eliminated us,” GM Kevin Colbert said... Jets head coach Todd Bowles took the anti-Rex Ryan route at the Combine, telling reporters that focusing on New England was a bad move because it's going to take more than that to have success next season. "I don’t think it means anything to us right now. You can’t beat the Patriots in February," said Bowles. "Just beating the Patriots is not going to cut it if you lose to everybody else. We’ve got to have a growth process of how to win while we’re winning and trying to beat more than just the Patriots." ... The Patriots have some interesting decisions to make this offseason, one of which may potentially involve the receiver position while they decide whether to bring Danny Amendola back, as well as monitoring how things will play out with forgotten man Aaron Dobson. According to Jason LaCanfora, he believes the Patriots will be in the mix for Percy Harvin if things don't work out in New York with the Jets. Seems like an odd fit, but obviously stranger things have happened... Events DC, the official convention and sports authority for the District of Columbia, has apparently teamed up with the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) to participate in its annual player externship program that began February 16 and runs through March 6. According to the press release, as part of the three-week externship program, New England Patriots practice squad defensive back Justin Green and former Baltimore Raven Ryan Bartholomew have been drafted in the Communications and Marketing and Government Relations Departments at Events DC to gain valuable post-NFL career insight and hands-on experience to further their skills in the game of life and give them a better opportunity for life after football. It's a great program, and always nice to see a Patriot mentioned in these... Rob Gronkowski has certainly come a long way, and his latest admission should continue to quiet his critics who in the past had questioned how he handled his offseasons. According to the Boston Herald Gronkowski has said he won’t be doing "Dancing With The Stars" and was taking a pass because the show would interfere with his offseason training. This is a guy who has already had his football mortality tested and got a taste this season of what his ability can help produce when he's able to stay healthy. Now he's got a ring, and it appears he's hungry for another. Good stuff... File this under one of those articles that stood out thanks primarily to Google. A short chubby man wearing a Patriots hat reportedly handed a bank teller a note and made off with at least $1200 in cash Monday morning, which now has police looking for the suspect. According to the Cliff View Pilot The Bergen County Sheriff’s Bureau of Criminal Identification is processing evidence but here's a look at the suspect, and you should obviously notify authorities if you recognize him. Good to know he enjoys supporting the team while he's out robbing banks. Nothing says "I love my team" more than that.
