I’m going to empty out the Patriots’ notebook to start the notebook. Crazy, I know. You can’t pigeonhole me. I am a wild and crazy guy (I totally did that in my Steve Martin voice, circa 1978. Yes, I’m that old. Mind your business.)
– Wednesday was Patriots Team Community Day. It was a great event, as the players, coaching staff, and owner Robert Kraft welcomed students from Young Woods Elementary School in Providence, R.I. The kids got to participate in football drills. Let me tell you, it warmed my cold, black heart to see the energy and enthusiasm many of the players poured into the hour or so, and the kids’ response was memorable. I don’t know if you all have social media, but here are just a couple of videos I shot with my phone.
– We talked to several players after the event, including Kyle Williams. Entering the offseason, Mike Vrabel mentioned how important this spring was for Williams from a strength standpoint, and that message was received and acted upon by the now 2nd-year pro. Williams says he’s up to around 193 pounds after playing somewhere in the mid-180s last year. Williams struggled with the physical aspects of the game, and if he’s going to take the leap, getting stronger is instrumental.
“Play strength was definitely something that I wanted to emphasize,” he told us. “And I knew that I need to get my lower half strong and bulk up a little bit.
“Coming across the middle, getting off press (coverage) and all that type of stuff. So that was one of my biggest emphases was mobility and just putting on a little weight.”
Williams has accomplished this by lifting and eating a lot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (I do that, but it just makes me smushy). He also loves his candy – he’s fallen in deep like with Gummy Bears – but isn’t sacrificing the speed that popped up a handful of times in his rookie year.
“I would say that me now from my rookie year is going to be night and day.”
– Linebacker Christian Elliss lit up when talking about
