FREE AGENTS MEDIA AVAILABILITY
FREE AGENTS MEDIA AVAILABILITY
PRESS CONFERENCE
March 13, 2025
ROBERT KRAFT: Welcome, everyone. Good afternoon and thank you for joining us today. We’re here to discuss the free agent acquisitions we’ve made and to introduce you to these players who have signed their contract today. I’m very excited about what’s coming, and I’ve been told I should calm down. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t first acknowledge a departure. Today, we released our two-time Super Bowl champion and one of my favorite players ever to come through our locker room, David Andrews. David has been an integral part of the Patriots for the past decade, including the past eight years he was a captain of the team. He was just not a leader in the locker room, but he was an outstanding individual in the community and very special. On a personal level, I was able to spend time with him – with David and his incredible wife Mackenzie – on a trip to the Holy Land and really got to know them very well five or six years ago. He’s just a very special guy. It’s the hard part of this business when you have to release people. But as we look ahead and we continue to build for the future, we’ve made some wonderful key additions to this team, and I’m happy to welcome them to the Patriot family and looking forward to seeing the impact they’re going to have, hopefully, on game day. We are really committed to building a team which all of our fans can be proud of. I was saying to one of the players, I sat for the 30-odd years, I went to the four stadiums and came here in ’71. That was the first time I bought season tickets. I really appreciate how special this team is, and I’ve been so honored to be able to buy an NFL team in my hometown, so I understand what the fans want. I’ll just tell you, I’m very excited about the people we’ve brought in here, and I just hope we really perform when the season starts. I’m going to ask Eliot [Wolf] to come and discuss the players who have signed, and then Mike Vrabel and the players will be available as well for any questions afterward.
ELIOT WOLF: Just to echo Robert, this is an exciting time. Four exciting players that we’ve signed are here. Harold Landry was here yesterday. We’ve got some guys coming in tomorrow. Josh Dobbs is coming in, Mack Hollins, Jaylinn Hawkins, Austin Hooper, and Khyiris Tonga. There’s still more work to be done. Obviously, we’re not finished. We still have more needs to fill. I just wanted to echo Robert again and say thank you to David Andrews for everything, as well as Deatrich Wise [Jr.], Jonathan Jones and Jacoby Brissett, who have moved on, for all their contributions last year and over the years. I wanted to thank ownership for all their unwavering support. Anything we needed the whole time, they’ve been nothing but supportive to us. Working with the coaching staff, it’s difficult for a coaching staff to come in, they’re putting in new schemes, getting to know each other, work together, and they’ve all – all of the free agents, they’ve bent over backwards for the personnel department to identify the free agents and other guys on teams that have been able to help us. Thank you to the pro scouting staff, Richard Miller, Nancy Meier; Matt Groh has taken a bigger role in the contract negotiation world, and he really excelled this year so far on that, and we expect that to continue. With that being said, just want to discuss the four guys that are here. Milton Williams, Morgan Moses, Robert Spillane, CD – Carlton Davis, just guys that we’ve targeted over the years, veterans, professionals. There was definitely an emphasis on good people, good players, culture changers, difference makers, and I think these four guys really exemplify that, as well as Harold Landry who was here yesterday. He had to return to his family vacation.
So, starting over here, CD, I was in Cleveland when CD came out in the draft. I tried really, really hard to get us to pick him and got vetoed on that one. But ever since then I’ve followed his career. When he’s been available, every time, we’ve tried to get him, and now we finally were able to make that happen, so I’m excited about that. Robert, just a tremendous story. Mini camp tryout with the Tennessee Titans, didn’t have a free agent contract after the draft. Made the team, practice squad, starter, and then had over 140 tackles each of the last two seasons. Morgan Moses has been a right tackle since the moment he was drafted, has played a ton of starts, physical, tough, just a professional, very consistent, run game, pass game, all that. Milton Williams really has come on in the last couple years here. We’re excited about what he can do for us on the interior of the defensive line, pass rush, run defense. All these guys, again, are just tremendous workers, and we couldn’t be more excited that they’re joining our team and moving forward here. So, with that being said, I would like to introduce Coach Vrabel. He’s got some remarks, as well.
MIKE VRABEL: Appreciate that, Eliot. I want to thank Robert and Jonathan [Kraft], who’s not able to be here today, but I want to thank them on behalf of just the coaching staff and the personnel, and echo Eliot’s comments just about the support and the commitment that they’ve made just in getting this process, just being able to build a program every single day, and allowing us to have the resources that we’ve needed to do that, to provide our players with everything that they need to be successful on and off the field. So, thank you, Robert. I want to thank Eliot. I want to thank his personnel department, specifically the pro scouts and that staff that really teed it up for me and the coaches to come in and evaluate as we worked through the personnel stage in the preliminary stages of that. I thought they did a great job. I want to thank them. I would love to thank Nancy Meier and Stretch [John Streicher] for kind of coordinating everything. Everything moves pretty quick, and they kept us in line. Handled travel, just the communication and getting everybody here, so I want to thank them. I would love to thank Richie [Armand], Mitch [James Mitchell] and Halle [Ross], who are going to form our player engagement department and have been able to just meet with these families, visit and help this transition. There’s going to be some new players here. There’s going to be some new faces here; that department is critical, and we want to support them. I want to thank, specifically, our little free agent group, which was me, Eliot, Ryan Cowden, Matt Groh, Richard Miller, that we were firing them off left and right just trying to get back, touch, go, pivot because everything happens pretty quick. That was fun, just being able to –everybody working a different angle, getting the contracts done, communicating on that, going to plan B. Really, it was fun, and we’re excited about the players that we had. You can see that once you get to know these players and these men that we’re going to be just as excited about them off the field as we are on the field. But I want to welcome you guys. I want to welcome you guys to our Patriot family. I think we were all excited about getting you as players, but then when we met in the hallway and met your families, we’re even more excited to meet your support system and understand why you guys are the way you are. We’re going to support the things and the people that are important in your life. That’s what we believe in. We believe in making connections and making sure that when they come to work here that we’re doing everything that we can so that we can put the product on the field that Robert talked about. That’s a championship product, and that starts by investing in people. I’m confident that we got the right people, and then now it’s our job to put them in the right places as players to get the best out of them, and so I’m excited to start that process. So, I guess I’ll take a few questions as it relates to some of the players and what we plan on doing going forward.
Q: In prior meetings with us, you’ve talked about wanting to support Drake Maye and protecting him with an improved offensive line. With the news of the release of David Andrews today, there now appear multiple holes to fill. Have things not gone acccording to plan, and are you now forced to draft for need in that area?
MIKE VRABEL: No, I think there’s a lot there, Karen [Guregian]. You mentioned David. I want to thank him. Having played at this organization, not quite as long as he had, but being here, I want to thank him for that, for being here and carrying on a tradition that so many great players before him had. We’re going to continue to support, as Eliot mentioned, the needs that we feel like are on the team, and we will target the offensive line. There’s still quite a bit of time before we get to the draft, but there’s also – we don’t want to just be careless. We talked about, there’s a difference. We want our players to play aggressive; we don’t want them to play reckless. So, we don’t want to be reckless through this process. We want to be very intentional with the people that we bring on this football team, and we’ll continue to target all those needs that we feel like and the players that can help us.
Q: With Milton Williams, there was a report that he was close to signing to another team, and I think like an hour or so later you guys finalized a deal with him. Can you take us through the emotions of that swing, and what was it about Milton that made you guys feel comfortable to give him the deal you did?
MIKE VRABEL: Well, I think it’s always about the entire package. When you look at compensation, it’s the body of work; it’s what they’re going to do for us. We always want to be able to not rely on past performances, but that was something – there was a high ceiling and a great vision about the person, the effort, the skill set, the speed in which he plays. There’s a power. So, certainly there’s an aggressiveness, and being able to add him to our defensive line was something that was really exciting. But you talk about the character, and hopefully we’re going to be able to – I hope you want to play more than you played in Philadelphia, and I know that you guys were extremely successful, but we want to play him a little bit more than that and hope we can do that. You just try to – you do your best in a short amount of time to make a connection with the player and kind of what we are, right? We don’t want to sell anything. What we want to sell is just who we are. We want them to want to be here, and then if they want to be here and we want them, we’ll figure out a way to make it work contractually. But we want people and players that want to be here, that want to be a part of what we’re doing, and that’s what these guys are, and there will be more that come along after them.
Q: Mike, you mentioned you didn’t want to be selling people, but the reality of having had two unsuccessful seasons and ending up at the top of the draft, you had to make some kind of a pitch to convince guys. I can certainly ask them about it, too, but what was your main pitch to say, ‘Hey, I know it on paper has not been positive the last two years, but this is what we’re building?’ What was the main thing you were articulating to these guys in convincing them?
MIKE VRABEL: Just who we are as people, that we’re going to care about them, we’re going to push them, about the team. You have to target the right player. Making sure that our vision – we want them to help us build a program that when the players walk back in here on April 7th that they’re proud of, that they want to protect, that they call their own. Just what we’ve done, the relationships that we try to make, what we want to build the entire player around and put them in good spots. I think we’ve been able to put some players – specifically Milton – put players like that, in our history of coaching, in good spots to be productive and make plays that can help the team win.
Q: I was just curious, there were reports about you guys going after Chris Godwin. Obviously, he re-signed with Tampa Bay. I’m curious what your thoughts are or what your plan is at the wide receiver position and how you plan to address that, whether it’s free agency or the draft?
MIKE VRABEL: Yeah, I’m not going to talk about any of the players other than the ones that are right here and the ones that are currently on our football team. We’ll continue to target. Mack Hollins will be in here tomorrow; he’s a wide receiver. But we’ll continue to look at the wide receiver position as it relates to free agency, explore every option with other teams, and potentially then we’ll get to the point where we’re looking at the draft. There’s just a lot of time, and I know that everybody is like, ‘It’s over in free agency.’ It’s never over. And Zo [Alonzo Highsmith], wherever Alonzo is, I don’t know, but he keeps reminding me and everybody else of that because he’s been around a lot of times. He’s like, ‘There’s players that are going to become available, whether it be now, whether it be in May or after training camp.’ He’s like, ‘I’ve seen it enough to know that there’s going to be someone that’s currently not on our roster that’s going to help us win a game this year. He’s just not in Foxborough.’
Q: What do you remember about Robert Spillane when he first came to Tennessee as a tryout player, and what do you think about the career that he’s put together since then?
MIKE VRABEL: Well, we went out to practice, and he didn’t make any mental errors. He was athletic. He was excellent in this open field tackling drill. He did the same thing the next day, did the same thing on Sunday. It got to be a joke where we would just keep throwing him in and be like, ‘Hey, let’s see if somebody can make Spillane miss.’ Jon Robinson and I were just like, ‘We have to have him on the football team, and I think he’s earned the right to be here based on those three days.’ Robert may or may not share this story, but we told him, it was on Mother’s Day, he got to call his mom, and it was pretty special, especially for me being a young football coach or a young head coach, to be able to see a player that had earned the right. We didn’t hand him anything. That’s what we want for every single player on our team. We want them to earn everything that they get. That was an example of what he earned his opportunity in the National Football League. So, that’s no surprise, the career that he’s had, based on how it started.
Q: Going back to the question regarding David and the offensive line, as you look to build a winning culture for an eight-time captain who’s been here, what made releasing him in the best interest of the team?
MIKE VRABEL: Well, I think we talk about leadership, and Eliot mentioned a few other players as it relates to Jonathan Jones, Deatrich Wise [Jr.] and David. Happy for those guys that found other places. There will be no restriction on leadership as far as age or experience. Every one of our players that walks in here or our coaches can act as a leader. So, I think when you go through personnel decisions, there’s a lot of things that we’ll talk about. Age, ability, durability, production, vision, and so I would say that anytime we talk about personnel decisions, those are going to be some of the things that Eliot and I will talk about.
Q: On the timing with David, was it injury related for him? He obviously was hurt last year.
MIKE VRABEL: I’m not going to get into a lot of details and specifics. I want to try to celebrate these players that we have here on this team, that we’re going to be moving forward with. Robert and Eliot touched on David, but we’re just trying to move forward here, continue to sign and add players that we feel like are going to help us win and really start preparing for April 7th.
Q: How much, if at all, did maybe the previous feeling of familiarity have with some of these guys, not just you but to the extent the coaching staff have –
MIKE VRABEL: I don’t know how you could do free agency any differently. I really don’t. Just the timing that’s involved with a lot of this stuff – it’s important to me, and Robert has trusted Eliot and myself to bring the right people onto this football team. If we have coaches that we trust and believe in and have been with players, we have to take that into consideration. If there’s players that Eliot, anybody else in the personnel department have had or myself, I think that’s critical. We have to evaluate the tape. That’s the first thing we do. We watch the tape, and then it’s, ‘What is this person, who are we going to get every single day?’ Because there’s going to be times in every football season that it’s not going well. I’ve seen it from these players that they’re not going anywhere, and the other ones that we bring in and the other ones that are down in that locker room right now. They’re resilient. They’re not going to back down when things are bad. They can handle adversity. They’ll attack adversity. So that’s what the idea is, and it really helps when you know somebody or a coach or a trusted personnel member has been with that player. It’s just hard. It’s important.
Q: Mike, how do you view Carlton’s skill set and how it pairs with Christian [Gonzalez], unlocking what you might be able to do defensively?
MIKE VRABEL: Yeah, hopefully we can just play cat coverage. Like, ‘You got that cat, I got this cat,’ and we can go to work. Just an aggressive – I would say the thing I appreciate about watching CD is they may catch a ball on him, and he just lines back up. He competes, he challenges and he tries to play aggressive, and there’s a play style that we embrace. So, corners are – it’s a tough position in the National Football League. So, they’re going to have passes that are caught on them. It’s, can they line back up the next snap, challenge, compete and get their hand on the next football? That would be, I would say, outside of his physical skill set, is the mental makeup.
Q: I just want to touch on Morgan because the four guys are here. What does he bring?
MIKE VRABEL: I think just great veteran leadership. I’ll tell a funny story, after we were able to commit, we were able to have a conversation, so I FaceTimed him with the boys. He’s got three boys. Two are here, you’ll see. But they were all eating candy, and I was like, ‘You guys are celebrating.’ He’s like, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll have them out there training at 4:00 after we get done eating all this candy.’ I’m like, ‘Man, can you just let them have a good time today?’ He’s like, ‘Nope. They’re going out training at 4:00, and that’s what we’re going to do.’ So, here’s been a repeated experience of taking care of his body, playing a demanding position, what he brings in the locker room. But again, there’s been a great product on the field with length, size, and we were excited to add him and his family. Thank you guys. With that, I would now want to introduce CD, Carlton Davis.
CARLTON DAVIS III: How y’all doing?
Q: Carlton, I was just curious, Eliot talked about how you were always someone who he wanted to draft and he wanted to pick you up. What’s it like to hear that, and what was that final motivation for you to come to New England?
CARLTON DAVIS III: It’s always good to be wanted, especially in this league. I didn’t know. I didn’t know that was the story behind it. But it’s always good to be wanted in this league, and a part of the decision of me coming here was them prioritizing me and being able to just get me here. Obviously, I was in Detroit and we had a great season last year. But ultimately, just being somewhere where you feel prioritized, going somewhere where you are familiar with Terrell Williams and I’ve always been a fan of Mike and how he ran Tennessee. That was part of the decision, and I’m happy to be here.
Q: Carlton, just what were your impressions of Terrell Williams last year in Detroit?
CARLTON DAVIS III: He was a real cool dude. He wasn’t quiet, he wasn’t loud, always gave great presentations when it came to our defensive meetings. One of the best D-line coaches in the NFL. We always had a respect relationship where he understood what I brought to the game. It’s always good when you get a good coach like that to give you respect and acknowledge what you do. So, I wasn’t there for too long so I can’t write a book about it, but obviously I gave a good impression on him, and he had a good impression from me.
Q: How do you feel about Christian Gonzalez and how do you feel about teaming up with him in the secondary?
CARLTON DAVIS III: I’m excited, man. He’s a young, great player. I’ve watched his film, even when he was coming out of college. I watched his film. I always kind of do a little background check on the corners coming into the league. I guess it’s a competitive thing, but I liked his film. He’s long, he’s rangy, got good ball skills. He had a really good year last year in my opinion. I didn’t watch too many Patriots’ defensive tapes, but from what I’ve seen on the highlights, it looked like he was playing good ball. I’m always eager to match up or just kind of team up with guys who have similar skill sets as me and can help push me in practice and I can push him in practice. It’s always iron sharpens iron, so I’m excited for that. I’m excited to get to practice with him, get to know him a little bit, pick his brain, just kind of see how we can help each other grow.
Q: Carlton, I know that you were teammates with Tom Brady. He’s still a big deal around here. What do you remember about your time playing with him?
CARLTON DAVIS III: Man, Tom was a great guy. I was just telling somebody earlier today that I learned so much from him. I didn’t even have too many conversations with him, but just how he carried himself, how he went about the game. He impacted us on the field and off the field in Tampa, not just how serious he took practice and how focused he was, but also how diligent he was in his recovery, everything he did, still continued to be the same guy every day, taking care of his body. He would give us little tips on what to do, just how to be a professional and how to be successful in this league and in this game. I’m always thankful for having to share a locker room with him, having to win games and win a championship with him. I learned so much, and I’m just grateful for the opportunity.
Q: Mike talked a little bit about the pitch to the free agents. What was the pitch like for you in your experience talking to him, talking to Eliot, and what ultimately sealed the deal for you here in New England?
CARLTON DAVIS III: I would say me being a priority and also being able to come here and do something historical here in a historical place. Like I said, I’ve always been a fan of Mike, even down in Tennessee. With Big T [Terrell Williams] coming here and being the DC [defensive coordinator], just knowing how he was as a coach, understanding the room I was coming into, the talent I could play with, just the ability to be able to come somewhere and build something, come somewhere and start a legacy was big for me. In Detroit, I had a good run with them; I can’t lie. I had a good season with them. It was a lot of fun with those guys. But ultimately, I wanted to be somewhere where I felt like I was a priority, be somewhere where I felt like I could come here, build and I could be a leader. Not to say I wasn’t a leader there, but I wanted to be somewhere that appreciated me and my family and made me feel welcome. Not to throw any shade because I know how y’all like to twist things up. I loved Detroit, I would never want to throw any shade to the 313. We had a great year, and I know how this goes. But like I said, man, in this league there’s a short time here and you want to make it really efficient. Coming here, I understand the opportunity here. I understand it’s a rebuild. I understand that there’s great coaches here. Detroit has a great thing going, but I feel like we can have a great thing going here.
Q: Carlton, I wanted to ask you about the time you played here. You described it as a historical place. Obviously, Tom came back that night in 2021. You had a tackle, a pass breakup. What do you remember about the environment and your one game here in New England?
CARLTON DAVIS III: It was a crazy environment. One thing I do remember, I tore my quad here, so not something that I want to remember, but I was having a good game up until then, and the environment was electric. I had never played here, and I didn’t know how it would be coming here, but it was really vibrant. Everybody was just – obviously, Tom is coming back, so why wouldn’t it be? But it definitely impressed me. The crowd was so into it and it was like, the lights just seemed a little bit brighter. I don’t know why. That day, they seemed a little bit brighter. But I was impressed. I was impressed. The crowd was really into it. You could feel the love of football and the city. I guess it helps that Tom came back and he hadn’t been back since he left, but yeah, I was impressed.
Q: Let’s start with how did the kids respond to that workout at 4:00?
MORGAN MOSES: They know if I’ve got a workout, they’ve got to pull their own pockets, too. So, it’s part of being in the family business, so I try to raise men at home. I didn’t have that when I was growing up that much, so being able to give that to them is vital to my DNA. So, just being able to have boys and show them the way has always been in my DNA.
Q: What is it about this opportunity that appealed to you?
MORGAN MOSES: Obviously, playing a lot of ball over the course of my career, going into year 12, obviously the historic – the history of being a Patriot. Obviously, man, I know the question is coming about, ‘What was the pitch of coming here?’ But when you’ve got a guy like Coach Vrabel, you don’t need a pitch. I know how it is to hold the bag for our offensive line and D-linemen out there at practice when I’m holding my son’s bags or I’m coaching his team, and it hurts when you don’t have pads on. So, for a guy like that to go out there and do that, and obviously he’s won in multiple facets of his career, as a player and as a coach. So, when you’ve got a guy, a leader of men that’s willing to step aside and put himself on the line for the betterment of the team, it’s an easy decision.
Q: Morgan, it’s a very young room right now. I know there’s still work that can be done to fill the room. You’re the ‘old guy,’ the veteran guy –
MORGAN MOSES: OG.
Q: How can you help those guys?
MORGAN MOSES: It’s been part of my DNA. I had great vets when I came into the league, Trent Williams and guys like that. One thing he always told me as a player coming up through this league, ‘Make sure you pass it down,’ and that’s been a part of me. Obviously, last year, I had Olu [Fashanu] who was a first-round draft pick, young guy, and he played multiple positions for us last year. So, being able to take him, and obviously just not take him and show him the way because obviously there’s certain things that he’s done in college that I didn’t get to do because the game has evolved so much, you wind up learning yourself. That’s the thing. It’s like, when you’re competing, whether it’s in any facet of life, when you’re able to teach somebody, show them things and you’re able to learn in that room, it makes everybody better because that guy behind you is getting better every day. So, you can’t be a complacent player and be that same person. You’ve got to show up every day and make yourself better. So, when you have that mentality for a room, especially for an offensive line because we operate as one – five equals one – we never leave the field. Those are the two positions, quarterback and offensive line, we never leave the field. We’re always on the field. We can’t raise our hand and say, ‘Hey, Coach, we need a water break.’ It’s very important for us to be able to work together, not even on the field but off the field as well, getting to know each other, dinners and things like that because I truly believe if you don’t know your brothers off the field, how can you go to battle with them on the field? So, bringing that mentality as an older guy in the locker room, just bringing guys along and showing them the way is going to be a great deal for us.
Q: Morgan, 11 NFL seasons. What has allowed you to stay healthy, to stay productive after 11 years?
MORGAN MOSES: I would say the biggest thing is just not staying complacent, being able to come in and learn different techniques, being willing to learn different techniques. Obviously, over my career, I’ve had great coaches. I had Bill Callahan when I was young in the league. Obviously, he taught me a lot, and obviously his name rings bells throughout the league as an offensive line. But also having veterans, man. Last year I was with Tyron Smith, so I got to learn a lot of things from him, a future Hall of Famer. I was with Trent Williams. I was with Donald Penn. So, when you get to take a little bit of knowledge from everybody else, mix it in your own mixing bowl and come out with your own recipe, that’s what you get. You get longevity in the NFL. Just being able to take care of your body, just knowing what you need. Not every time you can go in the weight room, throw 400 pounds on the bench and bench press. Some days you might need pilates. You might need yoga. You might need to sprinkle some things in. Just kind of just knowing your body and just learning your own regimen, fine tuning things, but just being a professional every day coming in, even the days you don’t want to come in. When you get down to the work, those are your best days. When you come in on those days, you’re a little sore and you don’t feel like practicing, but you’ve got a guy like Milton that’s not going to slow down because he’s still hungry. He’s going to challenge you every day. That’s what you want in those trenches. Like CD said, iron sharpens iron, and that’s what we’re building here. We’re just not building a team, we’re building a brotherhood.
Q: You talked about your regimen. From a specific diet and training standpoint, can you give us some detail about what’s allowed you to keep playing at a high level at 34?
MORGAN MOSES: Obviously being in the trenches, you’re always going to get banged up. Last year, I dealt with a knee injury from Week 3 on, and just sleeping in the hyperbaric chamber, getting up early mornings – 5:00 – to go into the facility to make sure the trainer sees you doing your thing. Obviously, not every day you’re going to feel well to be able to do everything, so watching that tape. Obviously, being a guy that’s going into year 12, I’ve never been scared to ask a younger guy or a coach, ‘What can I do better?’ So, every day just coming in with something to get – everybody thinks this jump to the NFL, you’ve got to go from A to Z right here, but I want to go from A to B and then go to Z. As long as I stay at A, it doesn’t matter. As much time as I stay at A, as long as I know when I leave A that I’ve completed that and I don’t have to go backwards, I know I’m in the right steps. So, it’s really just one inch at a time, just taking time, learning ball. Obviously, we’ve got a young talented quarterback back there, so being able to pick his brain, understand him, understand what he sees on the field so I can be better in my approach and blocking for him. Obviously being in the league for a while, I’ve seen a lot of things. Defenses, they all run the same defense, it’s just different personnel. You’re never going to have two in the same gap, so just being able to share that knowledge and that football IQ with him to help raise his game is going to make us a lot better.
Q: Morgan, how important is it to this collective group of free agents to kind of, as a group, instill a culture and a sense of urgency, I guess? Mike came here in 2001 as part of a free agent group from a team that wasn’t that good the year before, and then things really flipped because a lot of the guys who were brought in worked together it seemed in helping to instill a culture. Do you guys take that collective responsibility?
MORGAN MOSES: You don’t need a miracle to win football games. You just need the right people in the building. Obviously with Coach Vrabel here, we’ve got the right people. Our owner is an amazing owner, and then obviously we’ve got the right people here. CD won a Super Bowl; Milton just won a Super Bowl. They’re going to bring knowledge of the game on how to bring longevity through those weeks of Week 18, 19, 20 when it hurts, when people want to tap out, how to keep going. So, it’s important for us to be able to learn from one another, and everybody has different qualities. Robert, eight years in the league as a free agent without a tryout, and he comes in here and now he’s 140 tackles two years in a row. That doesn’t happen overnight. That’s preparation. That’s dawg. That’s brotherhood. That’s mentality. That’s somebody that comes in the building every day to learn. So, guys are going to get around these guys, and we’re going to talk football, we’re going to talk IQ, we’re going to talk brotherhood, we’re going to learn about each other off the field and on the field, so when we get on the field, nothing that comes at us – no adversity that touches us on the field is going to be able to break us because we’re going to have an unbelievable bond. So, when we run out of that tunnel on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays, you’re going to see something different. You’re going to feel something different because we’re going to go out there as one unit, and we’re going to play football together.
Q: Your growth the last two years as a player, what do you attribute that to?
ROBERT SPILLANE: I have this saying, I always say it doesn’t happen by accident. It doesn’t happen overnight. This has been years in the making, years of intentional actions throughout every day, living my life a certain way to try to get to where I am right now.
Q: Robert, what was it about playing with Mike Vrabel that made this an appealing spot for you?
ROBERT SPILLANE: I’ve known Coach Vrabel from a young age, from high school when he was a recruiter at Ohio State. I always admired his playing career and his coaching career. When you get around a guy like Coach Vrabel, you really feel that intensity, you feel that passion. I like to say I fall into that same boat of intensity, passion and heart. I’ve gotten along with him great in Tennessee, and I can’t wait to continue to form that relationship.
Q: Looking at your tape, one thing that jumps out is the fact that you are always getting your hands on passes. What goes into your preparation process, and what do you attribute to being able to make so many plays like that on the field?
ROBERT SPILLANE: Yeah, quite a few different things. One of the things I study on the field is spatial awareness, so I like to know where I am on the field without having to open my eyes. So, I do a lot of eyes-closed training to be better spatially aware of where I’m going without having to look. I attribute the ball skills to playing offense, growing up as an offensive player, a running back, a receiver, always playing catch every single day. You’ll see me out at practice 20, 30 minutes early just because I love getting my hands on the football. That’s how you’re going to essentially change the outcome of the games. Getting interceptions, forcing the ball out, getting PBUs, TFLs, giving guys a chance, like CD, to go make plays on third and long. So, I pride myself on that.
Q: What do you want Patriots fans to know what they can expect from you as a player and as a person?
ROBERT SPILLANE: Yeah, I want the Patriot Nation to know I’m going to pour my heart into this city, into this community, into this team. I care deeply about what I do. I bring passion and heart everywhere I go. I’m just so excited to get my feet in the building, get started, get to know the guys. Before guys want to hear what you have to say, you’ve got to make sure they feel like you care for them. So, I want to make sure that my teammates know that I’m not here trying to get them, I just want what’s best for them at the end of the day. So, I’m going to pour my heart into my teammates.
Q: You probably heard Coach Vrabel mention when you got a spot on the Titans roster in 2018. I imagine this contract that you just signed probably life changing in a different way. Just putting those two things together, how would you describe your emotions?
ROBERT SPILLANE: Yeah, what Coach Vrabel said, I got hired in 2018 on Mother’s Day and I got to call my mom in tears saying, ‘I’m going to be a professional football player.’ Today is her birthday, so I’m signing the contract on her birthday. She’s a very important special woman in my life, and I just want to make her proud.
Q: The report was you’re close to signing with Carolina. You’re here now. Can you take us through the emotions of that? Did you think you were about to sign a piece of paper to be a Carolina Panther?
MILTON WILLIAMS: It was a fast process. My agent was telling me teams were interested. Once the number got to a certain point, a lot of teams dropped out, and the Patriots were the one that wanted me the most. I made it a priority to come here, they made me a priority, and they value what I bring to the table as far as being a versatile player on the D line, a leader, a hard worker. They believed in me. I’m going to try to give it back to them as much as I can.
Q: Milton, what’s the most important thing that you learned over the course of your career in Philadelphia, and how do you plan on putting it to use moving forward?
MILTON WILLIAMS: Hard work will never betray you in anything. You put your head down and work at something, you’re going to end up being successful at it. Throughout my life, everything I’ve gotten has not been a handout. I had to go above and beyond all expectations to get everything that I’ve earned to this point. I’m just blessed to be here, blessed to have the opportunity to represent such a winning organization. You feel it once you come through these doors. The standard that Mr. Kraft and Coach Vrabel, that they set, you feel that. I just want to continue to do that and build this team up to bring more championships.
Q: I was just curious, you’re a part of Patriots’ history having signed the biggest contract in franchise history. What does that mean to have an organization respect you in that way to want to reward you with something so big and history-making?
MILTON WILLIAMS: Yeah, that’s a blessing, man. I just won the Super Bowl a couple weeks ago, so I thought that was the biggest day of my life, but this is probably going to jump that for sure, being the highest average salary or however you want to call it. That’s big, man. Like I said, they believed in me. Obviously they studied me as a player and as a person. They know what I bring to the table. Physicality, toughness, determination, and I thrive on people telling me I can’t do something. Bring it on.
Q: Coach Vrabel was talking about wanting to play you more than you played in Philadelphia. How do you feel about that, and is that exciting for you?
MILTON WILLIAMS: Definitely. The more you’re out there, the more opportunity you’ve got to make plays. I pride myself on being productive on wherever I line up on the defensive line, and I’m going to bring that here.
Q: You broke out last year as a pass rusher but have also done some dirty work as a run defender. How important is it to you to be a well-rounded player, and what goes into that process of being that well-rounded figure?
MILTON WILLIAMS: I just want to be known as doing it all, versatile, Swiss Army knife, line up anywhere and be productive from any spot, run, pass. If I’ve got to drop in coverage, I feel like I can do that. Wherever they need me to be, whatever they need me to do, I’m ready for the challenge. What goes into that is hard work, obviously with great coaches. He [Coach Vrabel] played this game a long time, now he’s coaching, so I’m going to be picking his brain a lot. Coach T [Terrell Williams], and the players here. Find the vets, pick their brain. I did a lot of that in Philadelphia with Brandon Graham, Javon Hargrave, Josh Sweat, Derek Barnett. These guys, they took me under their wing, taught me how to take care of my body, and just going to practice and getting better every single day, and that leads to winning games and winning playoff games and Super Bowls. That’s all I know.
Q: If you are asked to play more snaps, how will you try to maintain the level that you showed in Philadelphia while still being on the field a little bit more?
MILTON WILLIAMS: Putting in work. Putting in work. Plain and simple. Extra work. Asking the coaches whatever I need to do to make sure I’m available for every game, Sunday, Monday, Thursday. I want to be out there. I want to be out there representing my teammates, this organization. I’m not going to leave a stone unturned when it comes to preparing, being healthy, being in the best shape that I can be in, and being out there and being productive.
Q: Milton, you’re just coming off winning a Super Bowl, your first. During that ride, what did you learn about what it takes to win a Super Bowl?
MILTON WILLIAMS: Resilience, togetherness, what Coach Sirianni used to say, ‘You can’t be great without the greatness of others.’ Knowing that this is a team game, it’s not about any individual, and just being together as one. Like Moses was saying, just having that brotherhood and building that bond off the field, I feel like that carries onto the field. You go out there and you play for one another even harder once you get to know them and get to know their families and why they do what they do. I learned a lot in Philadelphia, from coaches, players. Obviously they’ve been a winning organization, so coming over here, it’s probably going to be the same thing.