FOXBORO – Patriots defensive coordinator Terrell Williams is not ready to reveal the specifics of a health issue that sidelined him during the offseason workout program, but the 51-year-old coach is feeling “great” four weeks into training camp.
Williams stayed home in Detroit after having a medical issue during rookie minicamp, organized team activities and minicamp.
“Oh yeah, I’m ready to go. That’s why I’m here,” Williams said. “Camp’s been good. I feel great. The guys are practicing hard. So it’s been a good camp so far.”
Williams called his health issue over the spring “irrelevant” because he’s not dealing with the issue anymore. The first-year defensive coordinator had another health issue during training camp, but he said he was just dealing with dehydration.
“That can happen to you,” Williams said. “Drink water. So that’s what you learn from that. But I feel great.”
Williams will be calling defensive plays for the first time in his NFL coaching career after 13 seasons as a defensive line coach and 13 more years at the college level.
He’s encouranged by the process so far.
“It’s been great. I mean, I’m not just saying that because I’m calling the plays,” Williams said. “But no, it’s been really good. I mean, we know what we want on defense, and I know what Vrabes (Mike Vrabel) wants. I know what I want, and we all know what we want it to look like on defense, and it’s just the preseason right now. I think our guys are doing a good job of responding to what we’re asking them to do.”
The Patriots have a heavily experienced offensive coach staff with two ex-head coaches and three ex-offensive coordinators.
The defensive coaching staff has less experience with most members of the staff taking a promotion to come to New England. So, Vrabel’s wealth of experience from his time with the Titans is invaluable to Williams and his staff.
“He’s involved in every aspect of our football team. That’s the type of head coach he is,” Williams said. “So he’s involved in offense, defense, special teams, the training room, the meal room, the grass, everything. He’s involved in everything, and I love it.”
Based on the first four weeks of training camp, it appears the Patriots’ defense will be the strength of the team. They’ve regularly given quarterback Drake Maye and his offensive line issues by getting in the backfield and bringing pressure. Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis are expected to be one of the best cornerback duos in the NFL when they get fully healthy, which has not been the case since the beginning of training camp.
The Patriots also spent most of their cap space this offseason bringing in veteran defensive help with Davis, defensive tackle Milton Williams, linebackers Robert Spillane, Harold Landry and K’Lavon Chaisson, defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga and more.
Williams sees his unit getting better.
“Just willing to learn, willing to take coaching,” Williams said. “That’s been really good, and they’ve gotten better from the start of training camp to where we are now. I felt like yesterday, we had a good day. We’ve got to start stacking these days because it’s been a little inconsistent at times. But now we’re getting to the point – I told them this morning – that we got to start stacking these days because we’re getting close to playing real football.”
The Patriots are less than three weeks away from the start of the regular season when the Raiders come to Foxboro on Sept. 7.
The defensive has now had plenty of time to learn Williams and Vrabel’s new attacking-style defense. Whereas in the past, defensive linemen were asked to eat up space and two-gap and the job of edge defenders was to contain as much as rush the passer, now Patriots defenders don’t need to read and react as much. Their job is to get upfield and disrupt.
The Patriots are hopeful that can help their pass rush, which was among the worst in the NFL last season.
“My expectation is we’re going to find ways to get to the quarterback,” Williams said. “You can do it by scheme, you can do it by player, and we just got to figure out what’s going to work for us. So, the pass rush changes every week, depending on who you’re going against, so we’ll find ways to get to the quarterback. So we’ll be OK.”
Landry and Keion White have spent the majority of the summer as the Patriots’ top edge defenders, though Chaisson has pushed White in recent practices. The Patriots also have two defensive tackles in Milton Williams and Christian Barmore who can get upfield and disrupt the quarterback.
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