FOXBORO, Mass. – The New England Patriots are known for employing more players aimed at special clubs than to the fullest of the NFL. But most of those players also have other positions.
Justin Bethel’s lead role for the Patriots is as one of the NFL’s most productive clearing collectors, but he also played the corner (and canceled an interception Thursday). Cody Davis runs safely. Brandon King, when he was healthy and active, played as a supporter.
Matthew Slater is different.
Since spring 2019, Slater has ignored his indexed position organization (open receiver) and has spent the entire training performing his own highly choreographed special team training routine.
“It’s a very exclusive scenario I’m in,” Slater said after education at education camp on Thursday. “Sometimes you feel like, ‘Dude, I wonder how my kids faint in the reception room’ or ‘I wonder how my boys are going to do in the back at high school.’ But I still have a lot of time to catch them. My purpose is simply to look at myself and see the paintings and gain my position on this football team again.
As a longtime team captain, undisputed costume leader and one of the greatest teammates in NFL history, Slater is virtually certain to have a place among the 53 New England players each year. But the 34-year-old, who is now the oldest Player of the Patriots without Tom Brady and Stephen Gostkowski, continues to look for tactics for his game.
That’s where his solo education regime comes in. Without the desire to paint about catching passes, running routes or covering receivers, Slater, who rarely plays the outdoor offense with his knees in victory formation, can drill and upgrade the smaller main points that separate satisfying special groups from eternal Pro Bowlers like him.
“It’s really amazing to think about how things have evolved for me as a player over the years,” said Slater, whom the Patriots selected in the fifth circular in 2008. “I think at the beginning of my career it was more of a matter of effort and just understanding the patterns. It’s about effort and understanding the patterns, but I think nowArray (it’s also about) perfecting the techniques.
“And there are so many little things that come into play, especially when you communicate about, say, a position like a shooter, where there will occasionally be two against one. You want as many equipment in your tool belt as you can imagine. Take a look to win those matchups. So I think we go back, take a look at the cinema, see the spaces he would possibly have fought in and take a look to find answers to those problems. Array..
“We’ll create workouts and then (the special team coordinator) Cam (Achord) will have a script (training) for me.” Hey, that’s what we’re going to do today.”
The Patriots put Nate Ebner on a plane last season. But with Ebner following former Patriots specials boss Joe Judge to the New York Giants, Slater is now doing much of his paintings in solitude, accompanied only by an assistant coach with occasional pop-ins through the long pair Joe Cardona.
“I think for me, personally, it’s been very beneficial,” Slater said. “It is none other than a receiver who plays cone workouts and works in the most sensible way of their ways. For me, those melee techniques or complete on the fly or the diagrams and blocking techniques, is my game. So I appreciate our coaches being so detailed and going out with a plan and a goal, not just slapping. I feel smart about the plan we have every single day. It gives me a lot of pleasure.
Slater is also reading and taking inspiration from other non-team teams, adding Bethel, who joined the Patriots midway through last season, and Davis, who joined last spring.
Anything I can do for it.
“The saying goes, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” said Slater, who won his fifth all-pro first-team all-pro variety in 2019. This old dog is leaving to get information about new tricks. I’ll settle for this challenge. I think you deserve never to get to a position where you feel they gave you everything. You deserve to take a look for more knowledge, more understanding of the game and check it for improvement.
“I think when this procedure prevents, when you avoid evolving that way, it’s probably time for you to avoid playing. And I don’t think I’ve reached that point yet.”