Wilfork ready to return

FOXBORO - Dressed in a Patriots [team stats] warmup jacket instead of his usual No. 75 uniform, Vince Wilfork [stats] settled into his club seats at Gillette Stadium to watch his team play the Jaguars. With his wife, Bianca, the Wilforks received an ovation when they settled into the stands.
The support was nice. The experience of Dec. 27 was not.

“I’ve never seen a game from outside looking in on the stadium,” said Wilfork, a two-time Pro Bowler. “Now I can say that I’ve been on both sides. I’ve been in the stands and on the field. I don’t like the feeling. I’d rather be out with my guys, sweating and getting bruised up.”

After a three-game absence, that opportunity comes Sunday against Baltimore in the playoff opener. Wilfork’s presence, along with Ty Warren [stats], is critical for the Pats run defense against Ray Rice, Willis McGahee and the NFL’s fifth-ranked rushing attack.

“We pride ourselves around here on stopping the run,” Wilfork said. “Sometimes we did this year, sometimes we didn’t. But it all starts over now.”

His streak of 51 straight games played was snapped because of a foot injury. He missed wins against Buffalo and Jacksonville and the loss to Houston.

“Sometimes you have to take a seat and get healthy,” Wilfork said. “And that’s where I was. I’m looking forward to this week. I feel a lot better.”

Without the 6-foot-2, 325-pound former first-round draft pick, the Patriots put duct tape on their defense. They created the “five and dime” scheme to pressure the quarterback without any defensive linemen. And they relied on rookies such as Titus Adams, Ron Brace and pleasant surprise Myron Pryor.

“Those guys that played basically on the defensive line the last couple weeks certainly have gotten a good workload,” coach Bill Belichick said. “And I think in the long run that will benefit them.”

But when it counts, when the team needs to stop two players who have combined for 1,883 yards and 19 TDs, it helps to have one of the league’s finest to improve upon a unit that is allowing 4.4 yards per carry.

“(Wilfork is) the main anchor of the defense,” Pryor said. “He’s that dominant player that we need. Happy to have him back here.”

Teams often discuss how studying an opponent’s previous three games is key. For the Pats, those don’t include Wilfork or Warren. It creates a dilemma.

“Well, what you have to do is put them in there in your planning,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “You understand a little bit what their skills are and what they like to do with them and guess, I guess.”

Wilfork suffered his foot injury against Carolina, tossing his helmet to the field in frustration when he stormed off. He missed practice time hasn’t had game action since.

How will he get acclimated for the physical game?

“That’s what practice is for,” he said. “To get back in the groove.”

Wilfork said practice went well yesterday, and that players are staying later and later to work. He also noted how his team no longer is an overwhelming favorite.

“We know what we have in this locker room,” Wilfork said. “We have a bunch of guys that want to win. We trust one another. We’re not where we want to be - there are more steps - but this is the first one.”

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(dailynewstribune.com)