For Wilfork, the job is job one

There’s a hand-made sign – black letters on a white sheet of paper – hanging in Vince Wilfork’s locker.

“Do My Job,” it reads.

Wednesday, the Pats nose tackle and co-captain explained that it has become a mantra for him since the team returned from a Week 2 loss to the Jets. Wilfork, who’s in the final year of his current Patriots contract, said he wanted to remind himself at all times what’s most important.

"It’s easy to come in and forget what you’re here for. A lot of things going on earlier with me and with my contract, that was one thing I wanted to make clear to myself. So every time I come to my locker, I remind myself what I’m here for. That’s to do my job. I have to sit at this locker every day, so I have to see that every day. Every time I see that, it reminds me what I’m doing, why I’m here, it makes me get in my playbook even more.

"If I put it in my playbook, I won’t ever see it there,” he continued. “Where can I put it so I see it every day? My locker. I see every day, some times too much. Even if I don’t stop at my locker, I walk by and see it.”

The tactic seems to be having an effect on some of Wilfork’s teammates, too, not unlike when Adalius Thomas’ Humble Pie t-shirts became popular in 2007.

“I’m pretty sure a lot of guys on the team see it, too,” Wilfork said of his sign. “They say stuff about it. It just reminds me why I’m here, and that might be rubbing off on some of the other guys. Do your job. It’s gonna stay there, long as I’m here.”

How long he remains here is still a pertinent question, since Wilfork has yet to sign an extension with the Pats. Aside from a brief holdout during spring practices, however, Wilfork has been committed to fulfilling his current deal.



(patriots.com)