Vince Wilfork
proCanes

Wilfork looks good to go: NT expects to return vs. Titans

Dec/30/06 09:45 AM
FOXBORO - Nose tackle Vince Wilfork [stats] is expected to play tomorrow when the Patriots [team stats] visit Tennessee for their regular-season finale.

Wilfork’s travel bag was packed and he practiced for the third straight day. The Pro Bowl-caliber tackle has missed the last two games after spraining his right ankle against the Dolphins.

Though it’s unlikely Wilfork will see his usual number of snaps in the middle of the team’s 3-4 defense, just getting him back on the field will provide a boost, as well as ensure that he doesn’t open the playoffs next weekend rusty after having not played in a month.

Second-year pro Mike Wright has played well in Wilfork’s absence and was particularly effective against the Jaguars last Sunday. Save for a 74-yard touchdown run by Maurice Jones-Drew on a broken play, the Jags barely averaged 3 yards a carry.

Still, the Pats are clearly better off with Wilfork in the lineup and Wright working in a support role. That should once again be the case tomorrow.

(bostonherald.com)

Wilfork, Watson are out

Dec/24/06 09:29 AM
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- If the Patriots are going to slow down the Jacksonville Jaguars' second-rated rushing attack (163.1 yards per game), they're going to have to do it without Vince Wilfork.

The nose tackle, who is nursing a right ankle injury, has been downgraded to out for today's game against the Jaguars, along with tight end Benjamin Watson and right tackle Ryan O'Callaghan.

Wilfork and Watson (left knee) were both injured during the Patriots' 21-0 loss to the Miami Dolphins Dec. 10 and will miss their second straight game. O'Callaghan (neck ) will be inactive for the fourth straight game.

(boston.com)

Pros give props to preps

Dec/21/06 11:44 AM
Each issue, Hot Shots asks a professional athlete for their favorite high school memory. This issue: Patriots [team stats] defensive lineman Vince Wilfork [stats].

Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork was more than a football player in high school. He also broke the Florida state record in the shot put -- throwing 68 feet -- in his time at Santaluces High. But it was clear his future was on the gridiron, and that’s where his scholarship came from, courtesy of the University of Miami.

Wilfork displayed impressive athleticism on the football field, leading the Santaluces coaches to play him not only on the defensive

PATRIOTS NOTEBOOK ; Wilfork Not Likely to Play

Dec/15/06 12:13 AM
FOXBORO - The Patriots are preparing to face Houston this weekend without standout nose tackle Vince Wilfork, who sprained his ankle Sunday in Miami.

Wilfork is listed as questionable on the injury report but, according to a source, he is unlikely to play as a precautionary measure.

If Wilfork can't go, he'll be replaced by second-year pro Mike Wright, an undrafted free agent out of Cincinnati who has worked his way into the defensive line rotation.

"Vince is Vince. There's only one," defensive end Ty Warren said yesterday. "But Mike, he's been around here two years. We expect and the coaches expect and I'm sure he expects himself to go out there and help the best way he can."

Wilfork not likely to play

Dec/14/06 01:47 AM
FOXBORO - The Patriots [team stats] are preparing to face Houston this weekend without standout nose tackle Vince Wilfork [stats], who sprained his ankle Sunday in Miami.

Wilfork is listed as questionable on the injury report but, according to a source, he is unlikely to play as a precautionary measure.

If Wilfork can’t go, he’ll be replaced by second-year pro Mike Wright, an undrafted free agent out of Cincinnati who has worked his way into the defensive line rotation.

What can Wilfork do for you?

Dec/13/06 12:57 AM
At the heart of the Patriots defense, which ranks third in the NFL at stopping the run, is its defensive line. The anchor of the Patriots defensive line - and at 325 pounds, he’s a fitting one – is nose tackle Vince Wilfork. He’s appeared in every game the Patriots have played since entering the league in 2004.

Like most nose tackles in the NFL, his numbers on paper aren’t dramatically impressive. He’s recorded four quarterback hurries, a pass defensed and a sack this season.

What matters to the team is what Wilfork does for everyone else.

Take the way fellow defensive lineman Ty Warren described his most recent sack, which happened three defensive plays into Sunday’s game, as an example.

Wilfork’s loss would hurt big

Dec/12/06 09:07 AM
FOXBORO - As far as playoff seeding goes, the Patriots’ 21-0 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday was mighty costly. The Pats can only hope that’s the only way they’ll be paying for it.

Both tight end Benjamin Watson and nose tackle Vince Wilfork went down in the third quarter with leg injuries, and neither returned.

Neither was in the locker room yesterday.

“It’s the Monday after the game,” Pats coach Bill Belichick yesterday said. “Everybody’s sore, everybody’s getting treatment. We’ll see where we are on Wednesday. The crystal ball’s a little cloudy today.”

Practically in-Vince-ible: Wilfork the ideal nose

Dec/08/06 07:06 AM
FOXBORO - Fans look at Vince Wilfork and see a fat guy.

NFL types look at Vince Wilfork and see Terrell Owens.

Sounds crazy, but it’s not. In a league full of freakish athletes, Wilfork may be the most unique of all. He’s built like Ted Washington, moves like Warren Sapp and reads offenses like Tedy Bruschi.

He’s literally and figuratively in the middle of everything the Patriots do defensively, ranking seventh with 46 tackles despite working as a glorified offensive lineman for linebackers Bruschi and Mike Vrabel. Head coach Bill Belichick could not design a more ideal 3-4 nose tackle in Dr. Frankenstein’s lab.

Vince Wilfork Update

Nov/28/06 09:38 AM
DOWN AND DIRTY: Right tackle Fred Miller is hopeful the league will review the hit he took from Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork following Rex Grossman's second interception. Miller was well away from the play and was not involved when Wilfork blindsided him. In meetings with officials this summer, they emphasized such hits would be deemed illegal in hoping to avoid the kind of gruesome hip injury suffered by Green Bay's Chad Clifton when Tampa Bay's Warren Sapp clobbered him on a change-of-possession play away from the ball several years ago.

''It was a [cheap] shot,'' said Miller, who injured his right knee on the play.

''I thought he was totally behind me [making it illegal] as well, and the ref was standing right there. What can you do?''

(suntimes.com)

Wilfork has right stuff to stop the run

Oct/12/06 08:41 AM
FOXBOROUGH -- Nose tackle Vince Wilfork said there is one statistic he uses to gauge his performance: rushing yards allowed.

Forget about his tackles (20) and sacks (1). Wilfork, in his third season, takes the most pride in helping shut down running backs.

``Not allowing a 100-yard rusher, that's a pretty good stat I can live with," he said.

Wilfork learns how to get better

Aug/28/06 08:09 AM
In his two seasons as a starting nose tackle with the New England Patriots, Vince Wilfork has known nothing but success.

The 24-year-old from Miami started as a rookie on the Super Bowl XXXIX title team and last season led all Patriots defensive linemen in tackles and was second on the team overall. With such a positive career path, you'd think Wilfork could rest on his laurels a bit and be happy.

Changed Wilfork leads 'D'

Aug/27/06 10:52 AM
FOXBORO - Vince Wilfork describes himself as a "hands-on guy," which is a much more beneficial approach for a chiropractor than a nose tackle.

Wilfork's aggressiveness actually limited his production during the first half of the 2005 season. He lined up too close to the ball at the line of scrimmage, therefore he couldn't properly read plays before the snap.

An intervention by Patriots head coach Bill Belichick in October helped Wilfork correct his mistakes. After the 6-foot-2 nose tackle modified his technique, the Patriots rose from 25th in run defense to seventh by the end of the season and won six of their final eight games to clinch their third consecutive division title.

"I was too aggressive," Wilfork said Wednesday. "My mindset was totally different from the last part of the season. I went into the season saying, 'I want to be dominant. I want to just push people over.' I definitely had the capability of doing it, but they didn't allow me to. A lot of centers snatched me down or jumped out of my way, so they used my strategy against me.

Nose tackle plays big role in defense

Aug/27/06 10:51 AM
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -- You won't hear Vince Wilfork's name mentioned often in talk about the Patriots top defensive players.
But the third-year nose tackle has emerged as a consistent performer.
Wilfork started just six games as a rookie in 2004 after being drafted with the 21st pick out of Miami.

He now knows nose - Wilfork took time to get sense of job

Aug/25/06 08:09 AM
FOXBOROUGH -- In the Patriots' defense, coach Bill Belichick admits, nose tackle is especially difficult. To the man who plays that position, it's more than that.

``To be honest with you," Vince Wilfork said before practice Wednesday, ``it all surrounds the nose tackle."

Humility, it seems, is not part of Wilfork's demeanor, but if his job is as tough as he says it is, perhaps there is just no room for it.

``The defense doesn't work without a nose," he said. ``So you have to be on your toes. You have to know what you're doing out there. You have to be smart. You have to be tough. Because sometimes you're taking on two or three blockers. Sometimes you've got one hand on the ground, a knee on the ground, and two people pushing you.

Wilfork has found home in trenches

Aug/25/06 08:03 AM
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – All eyes are always on the man in the middle. Well, at least the trained eye. New England Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork can tell you all about that. He knows the coaches saw he was having a tough time in the first half of last season (along with the rest of the defense). After careful examination, everyone came to the same conclusion. “I was too aggressive,” Wilfork said on Wednesday. “I went into the season saying, ‘I want to be dominant. I want to just push people over.’ Definitely I have the capability of doing that, but (opponents) didn’t allow me too. A lot of centers would snatch me down, a lot would jump out of the way, so they used my strategy against me.”

Adjustments have helped Wilfork

Aug/24/06 10:15 AM
FOXBORO, Mass. -- Vince Wilfork describes himself as a "hands-on guy," which is a much more beneficial approach for a chiropractor than a nose tackle.

Wilfork’s aggressiveness actually limited his production during the first half of the 2005 season. He lined up too close to the ball at the line of scrimmage, therefore he couldn’t properly read plays before the snap.


An intervention by Patriots head coach Bill Belichick in October helped Wilfork correct his mistakes. After the 6-foot-2 nose tackle modified his technique, the Patriots rose from 25th in run defense to seventh by the end of the season and won six of their final eight games to clinch their third consecutive division title.

Patriot Way breaks Hurricane habit: Wilfork adjusting his play at nosetackle, learning better technique

Aug/24/06 10:13 AM
FOXBORO -- He wears the brand proudly, as most former Miami Hurricanes do, and he wouldn't give back those college days for anything.

    But if you need an indication of how much a New England Patriot Vince Wilfork really is, the third-year nose tackle's membership in the brotherhood of 'The U' will lead you there.

    See, most of those old 'Canes congregate back on the Coral Gables campus in the offseason to work out. The tradition is cemented to the point where players like Jeremy Shockey and Edgerrin James have directly disregarded the desires of their pro teams to attend.