Three articles on Wheatley, CB position

[jmt57]

In case anybody may have missed these, thought I would pass along these articles on Terrance Wheatley and the Pats at cornerback.


Wheatley caught a bad break in breakout game by Shalise Manza Young of the Providence Journal

"You can only learn so much watching film. I can call out routes all day, but it's different when it's coming at you full speed and you have to react to it (and) you probably can't call it out, anyway," Wheatley said.

Though he still felt he wasn't playing up to his standards, Wheatley was frustrated to see his season end just as he was putting it all together.

"It was very frustrating because you have these high expectations when you come in — not necessarily what people think of you, what you think of yourself," he said. "In this sport you have to be…almost arrogant when you play. Especially at my position because when you mess up, everybody knows. The announcers, the people at home, everybody knows, so you have to go out there and you're literally by yourself. Once you get in the groove and start seeing things, everything starts to slow down. That just comes from seeing it enough."

Wheatley itching to show what he's learned by Andy Vogt of MetroWest Daily News

"Competition makes everybody better," Wheatley said. "If you can play, you'll be out there playing.

"It's nice to come out and see where you're at physically. I feel fine, just a little rusty. I want to go out and see a few things I missed seeing last year."

Patriots trying to work out of a corner by Rich Barven of the Worcester Telegram

With so many new faces, it has left holdovers Terrence Wheatley and Jonathan Wilhite in an unusual situation. Despite being NFL sophomores, the two have been serving as something of mentors during the offseason, helping keep the transition on track.

“It’s kind of weird because me and Wilhite have been in the system for a year, so we kind of know a little bit, but not a whole lot, so we’re trying to kind of help them out,” Wheatley said Wednesday after the third and final day of an organized team activities session — read: practice — came to a close. “It kind of goes both ways. As long as we can learn off each other, we’ll be fine.”

 

[jmt57]

More on Wheatley (and also Crable) from the Boston Globe's Chris Gasper

"You learn a lot. You learn that some of the things you do in college you can't do up here," said Wheatley. "You learn how to look at a lot of little things. You can't make any false steps. You can't go out there and second-guess yourself. If you do make a break, if you make a break and you're wrong, you're wrong. The one thing I learned is just go out there and trust your instincts and go make plays."

The cornerback explained that there is no substitute for on-the-field training.


"Once you get in the groove and start seeing things, everything starts to slow down," he said. "When I started playing I was like, 'OK, this actually makes sense now. I'm not out here guessing and second-guessing.' Then you get hurt and you can only learn so much watching film. I can call out routes all day, but it's different when it's coming at you full speed and you've got to react to it."

 

[Deus Irae]

He's the new Patrick Chung!

 

[jmt57]

He's the new Patrick Chung!

That, or perhaps he was the only one that would talk to the media that day!

 

[RayClay]

I liked what i saw of Wheatley on film. I've got to wonder, though. He plays with a rod in one wrist in college, that pops out. First half of f season one he totally messes up his other wrist.

Seems unusual, no?

Wheatley underwent surgery to reset the broken bones as well as repair ligaments.

Now railroad tracks-like scars line his skin, but otherwise the Texas native is feeling fine and ready to pick up where he left off last year. This week he was back on the field for organized team activities, knocking off the rust.

This is the wrist without the rods. If I were a reporter, I'd want to know from a doctor if this was coincidence.

 

[jmt57]

One more non-Brady article: Wheatley is a leader in the Pats secondary, by Jeff Howe from NESN

Barely 24-years-old and with just six career games under his belt, New England Patriots cornerback Terrence Wheatley has suddenly found himself in a unique situation: he is one of the longest-tenured players on the team at his position. ...

“These first couple days are just me getting the rust off and going out there and trying to work on a lot of little things,” said Wheatley, who had two tackles and two pass deflections last season. “One thing about this position, it’s more instinctual than anything, so when you don’t play, you don’t get to see a whole lot. The more I get to play, the more I get to see stuff, and the more I get to fine tune the game.”

Trusting his instincts was also a transition Wheatley had to make coming out of college, and he is trying to pass that knowledge along to his two understudies. In college, guys like Wheatley, Butler and Chung — all of whom were second-round draft picks — could get away with making a mistake in a game because they were typically the superior athletes on the field. In the NFL, though, you only get one chance to make a play when you’re on an island in the secondary.

“You learn some of the things you did in college you can’t do up here,” Wheatley said. “I had to look at a lot of little things. You can’t make any false steps. You can’t go out there and second-guess yourself when you make a break [toward the ball]. When you do make a break and you’re wrong, you’re wrong. The one thing I learned is to just go out there and trust your instincts and go make plays.”