Fifth year undrafted free agent Mike Wright is finally getting a significant amount of playing time following the trade of Richard Seymour and -- surprise, surprise! -- he's damn good, as productive as Seymour was. Perhaps his racial apprenticeship is nearly at an end.
The Wright stuff
<DIV id=story>
FOXBORO - Away from the screaming fans and the Sunday spotlight, Mike Wright once felt he was at his best. The practice fields were his sanctuary, where he played to his potential, without the pressure.
On game day, something happened.
"I think I always hyped up the games a little too much, got myself a little more worked up than I should," Wright said of his his first few years in the league. "I keep myself relaxed now, focus on what I can do.
"Last year, the more I was out there, I just tried to kind of do my same routine on game day as I would for practice."
In past years, Wright was an afterthought on the Patriots defensive line, with Richard Seymour, Ty Warren and Vince Wilfork the main cogs on the line of scrimmage. Yet Wright has developed an all-around skill-set over the past couple years, and with Seymour now in Oakland, he now has shifted into a more prominent role up front.
After dropping Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco twice in Sunday's win, Wright has a team-high three sacks (his other was a strip-sack of Jets QB Mark Sanchez on the Patriots' first defensive play in Week 2, resulting in a 17-yard loss).
"I'm just glad I'm doing it out on the field now instead of practice," Wright said.
His coaches have noticed consistent production, however, since he entered the NFL in 2005.
"We've had confidence in him all along - I don't think it's necessarily just all of the sudden in the last couple games," said Patriots defensive coordinator Dean Pees.
Wright's football resume isn't quite as glowing as many of his current defensive teammates. Coming out of high school in Cincinnati, Wright only received a scholarship offer from Div. II Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio. He transferred after the 2000 season back to his hometown college of Cincinnati, but played only two years with the Bearcats (he redshirted in 2001, then missed 2002 with a knee injury), and left without significant collegiate accolades.
Yet Bill Belichick brought him in as an undrafted free agent in 2005, and after a quiet rookie year (16 tackles), Wright's production shot up. At the end of 2006, he had 29 tackles over his final four games while filling in for an injured Wilfork, including 12 against Tennessee.
This year, he's one of three undrafted players, along with linebackers Pierre Woods and Gary Guyton, to have a prominent role in Belichick's defense.
"Mike's improved every year, and his versatility has grown every year," Belichick said.
Perhaps the biggest growth in his game has been in the pass rush. Having just 1.5 sacks in his first three years, Wright recorded 2.5 last year, and has already eclipsed that total this fall. He's also rotated at each position on the Patriots' front line, and said he now feels comfortable playing anywhere in both the team's 3-4 and 4-3 alignments, as well as on special teams.
"I think the biggest thing is just the experience," said Wright, who signed a four-year deal worth $7.5 million in March.
And when the news hit that Seymour was off to football purgatory with the Raiders, Wright kept his routine just as it once was.
"I thought I would probably get a little bit more playing time, but I didn't know what it would amount to be," he said. "I just stayed focused on what I had to do. ... I knew I would be in there a little bit, but it would all depend on how I performed."
Wright, who did draw a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness after contacting Flacco's helmet on Sunday, played through a nagging shoulder injury that limited him in practice last week.
"I was out there, so it was all right," he said.
As long as he's on the field, things will stay that way.
"It's great to be out there and be a constant guy, which is what I've always wanted to do here," he said.
(Andy Vogt is a Daily News staff writer. He can be reached at 508-626-3848 or jvogt@cnc.com.)
http://www.wickedlocal.com/norfolk/news/x1992008552/Patriots-The-Wright-stuff
The Wright stuff
<DIV id=story>
FOXBORO - Away from the screaming fans and the Sunday spotlight, Mike Wright once felt he was at his best. The practice fields were his sanctuary, where he played to his potential, without the pressure.
On game day, something happened.
"I think I always hyped up the games a little too much, got myself a little more worked up than I should," Wright said of his his first few years in the league. "I keep myself relaxed now, focus on what I can do.
"Last year, the more I was out there, I just tried to kind of do my same routine on game day as I would for practice."
In past years, Wright was an afterthought on the Patriots defensive line, with Richard Seymour, Ty Warren and Vince Wilfork the main cogs on the line of scrimmage. Yet Wright has developed an all-around skill-set over the past couple years, and with Seymour now in Oakland, he now has shifted into a more prominent role up front.
After dropping Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco twice in Sunday's win, Wright has a team-high three sacks (his other was a strip-sack of Jets QB Mark Sanchez on the Patriots' first defensive play in Week 2, resulting in a 17-yard loss).
"I'm just glad I'm doing it out on the field now instead of practice," Wright said.
His coaches have noticed consistent production, however, since he entered the NFL in 2005.
"We've had confidence in him all along - I don't think it's necessarily just all of the sudden in the last couple games," said Patriots defensive coordinator Dean Pees.
Wright's football resume isn't quite as glowing as many of his current defensive teammates. Coming out of high school in Cincinnati, Wright only received a scholarship offer from Div. II Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio. He transferred after the 2000 season back to his hometown college of Cincinnati, but played only two years with the Bearcats (he redshirted in 2001, then missed 2002 with a knee injury), and left without significant collegiate accolades.
Yet Bill Belichick brought him in as an undrafted free agent in 2005, and after a quiet rookie year (16 tackles), Wright's production shot up. At the end of 2006, he had 29 tackles over his final four games while filling in for an injured Wilfork, including 12 against Tennessee.
This year, he's one of three undrafted players, along with linebackers Pierre Woods and Gary Guyton, to have a prominent role in Belichick's defense.
"Mike's improved every year, and his versatility has grown every year," Belichick said.
Perhaps the biggest growth in his game has been in the pass rush. Having just 1.5 sacks in his first three years, Wright recorded 2.5 last year, and has already eclipsed that total this fall. He's also rotated at each position on the Patriots' front line, and said he now feels comfortable playing anywhere in both the team's 3-4 and 4-3 alignments, as well as on special teams.
"I think the biggest thing is just the experience," said Wright, who signed a four-year deal worth $7.5 million in March.
And when the news hit that Seymour was off to football purgatory with the Raiders, Wright kept his routine just as it once was.
"I thought I would probably get a little bit more playing time, but I didn't know what it would amount to be," he said. "I just stayed focused on what I had to do. ... I knew I would be in there a little bit, but it would all depend on how I performed."
Wright, who did draw a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness after contacting Flacco's helmet on Sunday, played through a nagging shoulder injury that limited him in practice last week.
"I was out there, so it was all right," he said.
As long as he's on the field, things will stay that way.
"It's great to be out there and be a constant guy, which is what I've always wanted to do here," he said.
(Andy Vogt is a Daily News staff writer. He can be reached at 508-626-3848 or jvogt@cnc.com.)
http://www.wickedlocal.com/norfolk/news/x1992008552/Patriots-The-Wright-stuff
