Oh man! Rowe welcomes Super Bowl coverage
PATRIOTS NOTEBOOK
FOXBORO — With reporters huddled around his locker yesterday, Eric Rowe said all the right things about not holding any grudge against the Philadelphia Eagles as he prepares to face his old team in Super Bowl LII.
Rowe may as well thank the Eagles for trading him to the Patriots on Sept. 7, 2016, for a 2018 compensatory draft pick. The cornerback did earn a glittery championship ring out of the deal by that season’s end.
But as Rowe told the Herald a little over a month after the transaction, the explanation Eagles general manager Howie Roseman gave him at the time was not a flattering one. According to Rowe, Roseman said he did not fit defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz’ scheme.
As Rowe noted, that scheme is primarily man-to-man. And telling a corner he’s not good at man coverage never goes over well.
“I think that was an excuse . ... Everybody has a man scheme,” Rowe told the Herald at the time. “I don’t know the real reason. That’s what (Roseman) told me. I just took it for what it was, like, ‘That’s it, all right, whatever.’ It’s a new start over here (with the Patriots), so I don’t really care.”
Yesterday, Rowe acknowledged the trade as the nature of the business. However, when reminded of his conversation with Roseman, he hadn’t forgotten.
“They said I couldn’t play man,” Rowe said.
On Feb. 4 in Minneapolis, in his second straight Super Bowl appearance with the Pats, Rowe will get the chance to show Roseman and the Eagles they were wrong.
In a word . . . no
The Patriots know better than anyone what to be ready for in the weeks leading up to a Super Bowl. One theme has already emerged.
“Be prepared to use the word no,” special teamer Matthew Slater said. “You have to tell people no, unfortunately, and then just remember we’re going down there for one reason.”
It’s a specific type of no to something that will be used plenty.
“Ticket requests,” Slater said. “Everybody thinks we get free tickets.”
One player who might be saying yes is Tom Brady. The quarterback spoke on WEEI’s Kirk & Callahan show of a “special connection” with the host state of Minnesota.
“It will be fun because my uncles live there, my cousins. We were just back there last year when my grandpa passed away,” Brady said. “It’s just a great place. It’s really special to go back there. The last time we played in Minnesota (Week 2 of the 2014 season), I had a lot of people come, a lot of family and extended family. So it will be a lot of great support there in Minnesota, too.”
Patricia enjoys moment
Defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, who will take over as coach of the Detroit Lions after the season, relished what was his last game on the Patriots sideline at Gillette Stadium.
“After the game was kind of over and everything kind of settled down, actually I had my son here at the game,” Patricia said during a conference call yesterday. “He hasn’t really been to a lot of games. He’s been to two ... and he wanted to go play in the field. So we played a good game of touch football. He beat me 4-0 so he kind of outran me there a little bit and made some good plays on me. I couldn’t catch him. . . . That’s always just kind of a special little moment for myself and him and my wife.”
Patricia’s successor is likely already on the staff. According to NFL Media, the leading candidate to replace Patricia, linebackers coach Brian Flores, is out of the running to be the next coach of the Arizona Cardinals.
Birds of a feather
The Patriots made it clear they had yet to break down film of their next opponent.
When asked what he knows about the Eagles, defensive lineman Ricky Jean Francois provided the day’s best quote.
“The Eagles are a bird,” Jean Francois said as straight-faced as possible. “Like I said, on Wednesday, I can probably tell you much more, but . . . I’m not really even focusing on them right now.”