The New England Patriots have done a good job of bringing in some of their legendary players to help develop their younger players, and specifically, rookies, in practice. Recently, N'Keal Harry has been training with Patriots legend Troy Brown as he looks to become an impact receiver during his rookie season.
Meanwhile, Chase Winovich has been working with Willie McGinest. And evidently, Winovich loves learning from McGinest and has established a relationship with him.
"We had already talked before, just kind of picking his brain on techniques and stuff, playing that position. He’s a good guy and a great resource," Winovich said in a post-practice interview. "He’s one of the best to ever play this position in the entire sport, in the entire history of the sport. There was a lot of stuff he was able to teach me, the intricacies of the position that I was definitely able to pull from."
Winovich was already a strong pass rushing prospect and he notched 18.5 sacks in three seasons as a defensive lineman at Michigan. So, working with McGinest, who had 78 sacks in 12 years with the Patriots, should only help him to improve. Learning the finer points of the position could help Winovich to find success early in his career and could do quite a bit to help offset the offseason losses of Trey Flowers and Adrian Clayborn.
Winovich was also complimentary of McGinest's coaching ability and said that the Patriots legend has a "knack for it."
"He’s not a bad coach at all," Winovich said. "I’m not in a position to be hiring people. He’s got a knack for it, that’s for sure."
New England Patriots
For the time being, McGinest isn't on the staff, but he maybe he will continue to work with Winovich in camp. But once the season gets underway, Winovich will work along with defensive line coach Bret Bielema, outside linebackers coach DeMarcus Covington, and potentially inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo as he looks to carve out a role in the New England defense.
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