Vince Wilfork taking camp in stride

FOXBORO - If you've gotten the feeling that the Patriots have had a lot of walkthroughs among their training camp practices this year, you're not alone. There have been three, plus one canceled practice to lighten the load.

But as far as Vince Wilfork is concerned, a walkthrough does not devalue the training camp experience.

"I don't count them," the veteran nose tackle said after Friday morning's no-pads, no-helmets stroll through the playbook. "Practice is practice to me. When I'm on the field, I consider it practice. I really try not to count it because I know training camp is grind time and whatever he throws at us, we have to be prepared."

Patriots' coach Bill Belichick said earlier in the day that the switch to a walkthrough was done with preparation for next week's visit with the New Orleans Saints in mind.

The Saints and Patriots will practice together three times next week, twice on Tuesday and once Wednesday morning (according to a tentative schedule released by the Patriots) before Thursday's preseason opener (7:30 p.m.; Ch. 4, 64) at Gillette Stadium. Belichick said he wanted to install some of the game-related information before practicing with the Saints.

"Training camp is different now, but as far as putting stuff in, I think we're right on schedule," Wilfork said. "I don't think there's any overload there's a lot of stuff we're trying to get accomplished. We're far from where we want to be, but we're coming out with great energy, we're running around and getting some practices under our belt. We're just trying to get into football shape and get the team born."

Wilfork is practicing with a slightly rebuilt defensive line. Ty Warren and Mike Wright are sitting out because of injuries and Jarvis Green has departed for Denver, which has provided plenty of practice time for newcomers Gerard Warren (signed as a free agent after being released by Oakland) and Damione Lewis (signed after being released by Carolina).

"They're veterans," Wilfork said. "They've been around this game. They know exactly what they need to do. They've been in a different scheme, but they're professionals right now the scheme is a little hard for all of us because we're just getting back into it, but it's starting to come along."

Both Warren and Lewis are 10th-year veterans, so it's reasonable to expect that younger players can look up to them as leaders in the locker room despite their short tenure with the Patriots.

"You just put the film on and those (younger) guys get a chance to see how a professional works," said Wilfork, who noted that the older players have to have similar respect for the younger ones.

"The last thing you want to do is be a veteran in this game and don't have the respect for the young guys," he said. "That's not us. Guys come in to work on the defensive line, and we're bringing in new guys everybody can see that there's a lot of people that have played a lot of games at this level in that room, and they ask questions.

"They want to learn, they're willing to learn," he added.

Next week, when the Saints visit, it will signal a shift in training camp from classroom work and repetitions on the field to actual application in a competitive manner.

"It's getting closer and closer," Wilfork said, "but at the same time, we're still in camp and we've still got a long way to go. But I'm still excited the season that we're going to have, and I hope it will be a good one. For the most part we've been doing a pretty good job of coming out here and practicing and understanding the defense and what we're trying to do, and that makes Bill comfortable to move forward.

"We know what it takes to be good, and we're striving to be good," he continued. "We want to be great. We want to be that team that, in the fourth quarter, we can win ballgames. All that stuff starts now."

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(thesunchronicle.com)