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WEEI.com: Burgess, Walter Happy To Escape Oakland
Bummed out about the Red Sox? This should put a smile on your face this AM. Andrew Walter and Derrick Burgess talk about escaping Oakland for Foxborough:
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“Shocked, yes, and also happy at the same time,” outside linebacker Derrick Burgess said, reacting to the recent trade that brought him from Oakland to New England. “Glad to be here.”
As for Burgess, it can accurately be reported that he hit the ground running.
Approximately midway through his initial practice with the Patriots, the former Raider was forced to run a lap – punishment for jumping offside on a play.
“We have certain things we do in practice,” Belichick explained.
It’s all part of the learning curve for the new guy.
Andrew Walter knows what Derrick Burgess has gone through — as former members of the Oakland Raiders, the quarterback and the defensive lineman endured a lot of losing, a lot of ridicule, a lot of dysfunction.
So when Burgess walked into the New England Patriots locker room a couple of days ago, a place Walter just got to himself, the first thing he said to his former black-and-silver teammate was “Congratulations!”
Burgess is the latest former Raider to see his NFL fortunes change for the better, joining the Patriots after making it clear that he wasn’t happy with Oakland. Walter was released by the team two days into training camp this year, and Randy Moss was traded to New England in 2007 after two unhappy seasons with the Raiders.
And the first thought when informed he was now a Patriot?
“They’re winners,” Burgess said yesterday after a nearly two-hour practice, the first with his new team. “It’s going to be a winning season, but at the same time I know I have to come out here and bust my butt.
“That’s why I’m here — winning,” he went on to say. “What happened in Oakland is behind me. It was tough. You play the game to win, so it had to be rough. But I’m here now, so it doesn’t really matter.”
The 6-foot-2, 260-pound Burgess played defensive end for his first eight seasons, four of which were in Philadelphia. But the Patriots envision him as an outside linebacker in their 3-4 scheme and have assigned him a linebacker’s number (49).
“My position is whatever coach wants me to do.” Burgess said with a laugh.
Derrick Burgess, standing in the middle of a cluster of reporters and cameramen Sunday afternoon, was asked if he could stand up.
"I'm standing up now," he answered.
The original reference, of course, was whether Burgess could play for the Patriots as a 3-4 outside linebacker, who rushes the passer from a standing start, as opposed to a 4-3 defensive end, who'd start his rush from a three-point stance. Burgess knew that, too, but sometimes an "inside baseball" sort of question from the media just begs a humorous response.
The real answer? Whatever the Patriots need, he said.
"Whatever they need me to do, I'll do. And whatever I need to work on, we'll work on," said the former Oakland defensive end, who came to the Patriots for a pair of 2010 draft picks on Thursday night.
As far as Derrick Burgess is concerned, what happened in Oakland, stays in Oakland.
That discontent he felt with the Raiders?
“It’s behind me,” Burgess said.
That public desire for a contract extension?
“I’m worried about right now,” he said.
That falloff in play after two Pro Bowl seasons?
“Pro Bowl is not on my mind,” he said. “I just want to help win.”
In his first practice with the Patriots yesterday, the previously disgruntled pass rusher put a happy face on his past frustrations, cracking jokes, touting his work ethic, and spouting the company line.
Burgess confirmed he had a little 3-4 experience, but said he has a lot of work to do to catch up to the players who have been in the system.
“It’s a new system, new team, new terminology, and all that,’’ said Patriots coach Bill Belichick, “but we spent quite a bit of time with him this weekend and tried to bring him up to speed as much as we can. So, he has some catching up to do, too.
“I’m glad we have him here. I’m sure he’ll be competitive to help our team.’’
Belichick, who coached Burgess in the Pro Bowl following the 2006 season, thought high enough of him to send Oakland two 2010 draft picks. The Raiders received a third-round pick and will get either a fourth-rounder or a fifth-rounder (if the Patriots acquire one).
Belichick left a positive impression on Burgess with the way he was treated the Pro Bowl.
“I was very impressed by him,’’ said Burgess. “Just the way he came to the Pro Bowl. It’s a fun time, but he had the desire to win, which I did, too. I like that about him.’’
“Good defensive players are hard to find. If you can get one, then they have value, or if you have one, they have value,’’ said Belichick.
Belichick coached Burgess in the 2006 Pro Bowl, the second of Burgess’s two straight Pro Bowl nods as a Raider. Burgess (6 feet 2 inches, 260 pounds) has a reputation as a pass rusher, but the Patriots think he is more than one-dimensional.
“He’s not just a pass rusher,’’ said Belichick. “I think he’s a strong player. He’s not the biggest player, but he’s a very strong player for his size. He plays with good power. I think he’s a good player in the run game.
“I think he can rush the passer; he’s had a lot of production. He has primarily rushed off the left side. Normally you see a lot of pass-rush production off the right side than the left side, but he has been able to produce quite a bit from the left side. Those are some of the things that are unique to him. I’m not saying that’s exactly what is going to happen with us. We’ll have to wait and see how all that plays out.’’
The likely scenario is a combination of Pierre Woods and Burgess filling the vacancy at outside linebacker, opposite Adalius Thomas, that was created when the Patriots traded Mike Vrabel to Kansas City. Woods, 27, was the front-runner before Burgess was acquired, but Woods has just one career sack in three seasons.
WEEI.com: Burgess, Walter Happy To Escape Oakland
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