Truth be told, before he got to New England, Fred Taylor wasn’t the biggest Tom Brady fan.
While he was with Jacksonville, Taylor and the Jaguars were knocked out of the playoffs twice by Brady and the Patriots, first in 2005 and again in 2007. And so when he first entertained the idea of signing with New England as a free agent, the veteran running back wasn’t completely enamored with the thought of lining up alongside No. 12.
“Sometimes you sit back when you’re on the outside and you go, ‘Man, these guys, they’re just the lucky ones,’” Taylor said, recalling his feelings about Brady and the Patriots before he signed with New England as a free agent on Feb. 27.
“But the intensity, the passion he shows out there in practice, wanting to be perfect on every single throw, every single drop back … I mean, he’s a winner for a reason,” Taylor said Monday. “And, he’s humble. You don’t get that combination quite often, but he’s a true leader.”
Taylor is one of five veteran offensive skill position players who are new to the Patriots’ offense -- it’s a list that includes tight ends Chris Baker and Alex Smith, and wide receivers Joey Galloway and Greg Lewis. It’s a group that excites Brady.
“I love having veteran players come onto this team because they have the experience,” Brady said. “They know football and they know the language and terminology, and the learning curve is so much accelerated for them.
“When you get a rookie, he’s trying to make sure he gets out to practice on time. When you have Fred who’s excited to run the plays and now he has to learn our terminology versus the terminology he’s known… He’s excited, he feels excited to be here. That youth comes out in him, so I think hopefully we are going to get the best out of both he and Joey and Greg Lewis.”
It’s also a chance for Taylor to see just what it was that made the Jags’ come up just short in those two playoff games against New England. Taylor confessed that after three-plus months with the Patriots, he now realizes why Jacksonville lost to New England in those playoff appearances.
“I was on the other side, you know, so you’re a little bit upset, a little bit jealous. You envy those guys and all that good stuff. They knocked us out of the playoffs twice, so you sit back and think, ‘Man, we should have had it, we should have had it,’” said Taylor, who was a part of a Jaguars’ team that picked up a playoff win over the Patriots in 1998.
“But truthfully, you go and you see why they deserve it. They earn it.”
Taylor should challenge Laurence Maroney and Sammy Morris for the bulk of the carries at running back, a position battle that will likely play out over the course of training camp. Galloway and Lewis are expected to duel for the No. 3 receiver spot -- with Wes Welker in the slot, it’s the receiver position split wide opposite Randy Moss. And Baker and Smith are expected to fight for playing time against incumbent tight ends Dave Thomas, Ben Watson and Tyson DeVree, another free-for-all that will likely play out over the course of training camp in July and August.
Joining a new team like the Patriots -- even after you’ve established yourself with multiple successful seasons in the league -- can be a bit of a double-edged sword. You are now a part of a high-octane offense that can take you places you’ve only dreamed about. Just ask Welker, who never started more than two games or caught more than 67 passes in a year before coming to New England prior to the 2007 season. Since he joined the Patriots, he’s caught 223 passes in two years and been selected to the Pro Bowl.
But at the same time, the re-education process can be extremely humbling. Starting over can be rough. With every Welker-style success story, the Patriots have had more than their share of veterans who have come to New England looking for a rebirth only to flop miserably. (See Monty Beisel and Donald Hayes.) Think of what life was like the first few days at a new school -- it’s not the sort of thing every player has the stomach for.
“Everything is new to me -- that’s pretty much the surprise,” said Lewis, who spent six seasons with the Eagles before being traded to New England on March 5. “I was in Philadelphia for six years, so I’m used to how everything went about there. Now, coming here, everything has changed. I just have to get used to different things and that nature. But everything is a surprise for me. Everything is new.”
One thing that Lewis and Taylor say has helped the acclimation process is the New England locker room. There are several other players -- many of them other skill position players like Welker, Morris and Moss -- who didn’t start their careers with the Patriots, but have moved to New England and made the transition smoothly.
“I have a locker room full of good people. They’ve welcomed me in here and anything I need, any question I’ve asked, they’ve always answered them,” Taylor said. “I’m still trying to find my way, taking it day by day, one day at a time, trying to learn the playbook so I can ply a little faster without hesitation, then I’ll get comfortable with everything and I’ll be ready to play some ball.”
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