Lighter Wilfork looking good at NT for Patriots

VinceWilforkPatriots2
RICHMOND, Va. — Nose tackle Vince Wilfork was an impressive force on the New England Patroits defensive line in joint practices with the Washington Redskins. The Patriots captain missed all but four games last season with a torn Achilles tendon, but has been at full health throughout training camp and seems to have no limitations coming back from the injury.

“I feel fine. To me, that’s in the past. I don’t even think about it,” Wilfork said.

“From the first day, I stepped on the field with full pads back at Gillette, I knew I could move around and play on it. I really didn’t think much of it after that. It’s an afterthought to me right now.”

Wilfork also added an interesting nugget, saying that he shed some pounds off his massive 325-pound frame with the idea of helping his rehab.
So far, so good.

“My training camp began a long time ago — in March,” Wilfork said. “I’ve been working for a long, long time and there’s a reason I feel good and a reason I have the confidence to play. It won’t stop. Every year I always try to work on something and one of the things (this year) was, with an Achilles the more weight you can try to take off the better your body feels. I tried that and it went well. That might be something in the long run where if I feel that helped me, it might be something I have to stick with.

“For the most part, everything is good right now. It’s just maintaining. That’s the main goal, to be able to continue to work at things, where I know I can get better, whether it’s on the field or off the field with my body. I think that’s what is going to keep me around as long as I want to be around and not getting pushed out the door. As long as I want to be around, I’ll be around.”

Patriots coach Bill Belichick learned much from joint practices in recent years. The Redskins became the fifth team to hold the combined summer workouts with the Patriots since 2010. While many previous workouts came against teams and coaches that had longstanding ties or relationships with Belichick, that’s not quite the situation with Washington and first-year head coach Jay Gruden.

“Once the preseason schedule came out and we saw that we opened in Washington, Jay — well (Redskins President/General Manager) Bruce (Allen) and then Jay and I all made contact,” Belichick said. “We talked about the opportunity of working against each other. We talked about it. We felt like we could make it work based on what our goals were and talking about our philosophy and how we work and so forth. As we got into more specifics, the actual drills and how they would be done and who would work against whom it seemed very workable.

“I know the members of our coaching staff have also worked closely with their guys. (Patriots defensive coordinator) Matt (Patricia) on our end and (Redskins offensive coordinator) Sean (McVay) or (Patriots offensive coordinator) Josh (McDaniels) and (Redskins defensive coordinator) Jim Haslett and so forth, just coordinate some things there. I feel like things are in place from the logistical standpoint. We just need to go out there and have a good practice.”


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(lindysports.com)
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