Brooks has special opportunity at safety

FOXBORO — Terrence Brooks hasn’t earned a consistent role on defense since entering the NFL in 2014, but the Patriots may be giving the safety a better opportunity to succeed.

Brooks, who joined the Pats on a two-year deal in the offseason, has carved out a role as a core special teams player in stops with the Ravens, Eagles, and most recently the Jets, but there’s reason to believe he can be more than that in New England. With Patrick Chung still working his way back from an injury, Brooks has filled his spot in practice throughout the preseason and performed well when he’s gotten his chances on defense.

It still is early, but so far Brooks has taken advantage of what seems to be a more ideal situation with the Patriots.

“I’m getting used to it. Definitely being around this organization has really brought I feel like a better player out of me,” Brooks said. “Just being more detailed with my work, making sure I’m coming out and executing and working hard each and every day. It’s been well. I’ve learned a lot from the vets, too, with (Devin McCourty) and Duron (Harmon) and Pat especially. It’s been well, and I’m really trying to apply everything that they give me to my game.”

Brooks was a big contributor on defense Saturday in the Patriots’ 22-17 victory over the Titans in Tennessee, as he started on defense and earned 42 snaps — 63 percent of the total defensive plays — and finished with three combined tackles and a pass deflection.

One play that stood out came in the second quarter. Playing as a one-high safety, Brooks read a deep ball from Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill intended for Taywan Taylor. With Keion Crossen in coverage, Brooks came over and made a perfectly-timed hit on Taylor as the ball fell incomplete.

Brooks is trying to be as versatile as he can be to earn on a role on the defense, and it helps to have a crop of veterans from whom he can soak some knowledge.

“Honestly, it’s awesome. You can’t ask for anything better,” Brooks said. “The resources here are great. Even at the corner position, we got a lot of great guys that I can learn from. So every chance I get, I’m always trying to nitpick at those guys and ask them like, ‘Hey, how do you play this? How do you do this coverage? How do you press?’ I’m just trying to absorb all the information I can while these guys are here and apply it to my game and go out there and just try to make the best plays.”

Brooks played just 69 defensive snaps last season with the Jets, and while that number is likely to go up this season, he also still will have a big role with the special teams unit, where he played a team-high 392 snaps with the Jets last year.

That’s just fine with Brooks, who is trying to make an impact wherever he’s called.

“It’s whatever opportunity you’re given, you have to take it,” Brooks said. “You want to play more defense and I wanted to do that since I got drafted in the league, but the opportunity that I was given was on special teams, so if I’m going to play that, I’m going to try to be the best special teams player in the league and that’s my main focus every single time. And then when defense comes, I’m going to try to do the same thing with that and add special teams to it. So the work never stops. I’m trying to be great at all positions and you have to stay humble. …

“Just coming in, you know you can get an opportunity to play. You can do whatever you want on the team, it’s just the fact of coming out and executing and show them that you can handle the responsibilities that they give you and they’ll put more on you. That’s been my main goal every day as I keep stacking days and keep coming out and executing and the rest will take care of itself.”