Vince Wilfork won’t talk ‘dirty’

FOXBORO - Last season, a string of questionable hits by Vince Wilfork [stats] and accompanying fines by the league led to a reputation the Patriots [team stats] defensive lineman wanted no part of and staunchly defended himself against.

Dirty player?

First, there was the low tackle on Bills quarterback J.P. Losman. Then the late hit on Cowboys tight end Jason Witten. That was followed by the finger-poke inside the facemask of Giants running back Brandon Jacobs during the regular-season finale. And, finally, a grab to Michael Turner’s facemask in the AFC Championship Game also cost him.

In all, Wilfork was rung up for nearly $40,000, before the $12,500 fine for the Losman hit was reduced to $2,500.

Moving forward, it will be interesting to see if there is any kind of carryover this season with the Patriots Pro Bowl nose tackle.

Will officials watch him more closely based on reputation? Do players consider him “dirty” based on the one-season pile-up of events, and will any of what happened last year alter Wilfork’s game in 2008?

With regard to the latter, let’s just say the 6-foot-2, 325-pound Wilfork, who led the defense with seven tackles in Friday night’s 27-17 preseason loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, isn’t about to budge.

If he’s a marked man, so be it.

“That was last year. If (the refs are looking out for me) that’s what they’re going to do. It’s not going to stop the way I play and prepare,” Wilfork said last week. “I’d never alter my game just because of something like that. That was in the past. I really don’t care about it. I’m going to do what I got to do to get myself ready for the season.”

Of the four infractions, Wilfork did admit to being “stupid” on the Jacobs incident. He won’t, however, apologize for playing with emotion, intensity and aggression. Still, he has tried to work out differences with the players he may have wronged.

“I think everything played itself out last year. People I’ve met, people I’ve talked with, they know me as a person. The thing I did worry about last year was my reputation,” Wilfork said. “But I think, at the end of the day, I was fine with it. I was fine with everything from a player’s standpoint. The guys I play against understand the level of play that I play at. It’s in the past.”

Former Patriots linebacker Steve Nelson did not believe there would be any repercussions for Wilfork this season based on what happened last season. For starters, it’s really hard for officials to go out of their way to keep an eye on what’s happening with a player in the trenches.

“Nose guards work in such close space,” Nelson said. “By the nature of his position, being in the trenches, I think you can get away with a lot of stuff down there because you’re in close combat with the opposition. So I don’t think there’s going to be any aftereffects from last year.

“Officials are pretty good. They don’t let reputations get involved in the process, or their decision-making. And I don’t think it’s going to affect the way he plays. He’s lined up a few inches from the ball. He’s got combination blocks on him. So he doesn’t have time to think about it.”

Besides, Wilfork’s reputation isn’t exactly one that’s been built up over time. Teammate Rodney Harrison [stats] has had the so-called “dirty” player label for quite a while and can’t shake it, even if more players have been fined for questionable hits of late.cw0

“You have the Conrad Doblers, the Jack Tatums . . . those reputations take years and years to build up,” Nelson said. “It’s not a one-game thing or one season. It’s years of questionable hits. So I think Vince is a totally different ballgame.”

(bostonherald.com)