Meriweather sets sights on improvement

FOXBORO - Even though he made the Pro Bowl last year (snuck in as an alternate), Brandon Meriweather was a maddening player to watch. Some games he hit. Other games he watched. Some games he covered well. Other games he gambled and lost. His tackling? Not something you want to use to teach the kids.

But instead of getting fat and happy with the Pro Bowl honor, Meriweather is at least saying and doing the right things to get ready for 2010. He's breaking down film of the games gone bad, working with Ravens safety Ed Reed, concentrating on his weaknesses and augmenting his strengths. If there were an All-Pro team in March, he'd be getting my vote.

In a rangy conversation on the Gillette Stadium turf Thursday, Meriweather hit on a ton of topics including the insertion of Corwin Brown as secondary coach.

"I think it'll be extremely important," Meriweather said of the former NFL safety who most recently was defensive coordinator at Notre Dame. "I sat down and talked to him about five times and every time I talk to him I'm intrigued by how much he knows and how much he says he could help. I'm not one who believes talk but he can have his chance to show it and I'll have my chance to show I'm a good student. It's gonna be good to have someone I can actually communicate with who actually has played the position and knows what I'm looking at."

If that statement sounds like an indictment of coaches who haven't played at the NFL level, well, it kind of is. Although Meriweather tries to couch it as tenderly as possible, it's clear he prefers knowing there's someone on his side of the ball who's looked at the same things he's looking at.  

"It's easy to say something when you're just looking at it from an X and O's perspective but until you actually have done it, you get a lot more credit when you say something," he said. "Everybody knows Bill (Belichick) is a mastermind at what he do. He's a great coach. No disrespect to Bill or anybody else. But once you are actually in that spot and you know exacly what I'm looking at back there, you know exactly what I'm thinking.

"Bill is very great at it but for him not to have ever played in the NFL he knows 90 percent of what I'm looking at and what I'm thinking but I think with (Brown and Belichick) together and (former secondary coach Josh Boyer) and the rest of the defensive staff we'll be very, very good this year," Meriweather said.

Meriweather pinpointed aspects of his game he wants to improve - tackling, aggressiveness, communication in the secondary. The film work, he said, is ongoing.  

"I usually watch the games that we did terrible in," he said. "Today, I'm going to watch the Saints game. I'm going to see what the Saints did so good and what we did so bad that made Drew Brees throw for 400 yards. I'm going to see the things that we did and hopefully what I find I can go back and tell Jonathan (Wilhite), Darius (Butler) and Leigh (Bodden)."

Meriweather says he'll be dividing his time between Foxborough and Miami.

"I go down there because of Ed (Reed) and because it's home," he said. "I also think you need to get a different part of working out. I don't think it's necessary that we all have to be here to get that experience. For instance, when I go home, Ed always tells me my break is too flat. I would never have got that from watching film myself."

Given the adoration Belichick has for Reed's ability, Meriweather was wise to choose Reed as a mentor. He says he owes a significant amount to the future Hall of Famer.

"A lot of the things I do to make plays, I would’ve never did if he wouldn’t have told me to try it," said Meriweather. "Other than Ed, a lot of it goes to my college coaches, and actually Bill. Bill helped me, too."

Oh yeah, that guy.

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(necn.com)