Collins is ready for his third act
‘Grateful’ to be back with the Pats
Jamie Collins returned to the Patriots on Wednesday.
It seems he hasn’t stopped smiling since.
Over a 10-minute video call with reporters Friday, Collins beamed from start to finish, looking every bit the part of someone happy to be home. He rambled, reflected and repeated the word “grateful” a half-dozen times. He even begged for an extra question, something that would have normally tortured the reserved 31-yearold linebacker.
“Are you sure you got nothing? Anything?” Collins asked, leaning into the camera and another grin. “Like, what’s my favorite food or something?”
In New England, Collins was last seen feasted on opposing defenses every weekend as a co-star of the Patriots’ famed “Boogeymen” linebacking corps of 2019. The team had signed him to a one-year contract that May, and he returned their minimal investment with a career year, posting 85 tackles, seven sacks, three forced fumbles and three interceptions.
That performance led Collins to Detroit, where he inked a much longer, richer deal in free agency. But akin to his time in Cleveland, sandwiched by his first two stints in New England — the Patriots drafted Collins in 2013 and traded him three years later — he flamed out. The rebuilding Lions released Collins after a little more than a season, wanting to shed his contract and go younger at linebacker. He played in only two games last month, making 10 tackles and recovering a fumble.
He’s back again on another one-year deal. Teammates said Collins cracked jokes upon walking through the locker room doors Wednesday. Soon after, he approached second-year linebacker Anfernee Jennings about acquiring his old No. 58. Jennings obliged, and Collins said he paid him a few thousand dollars for it.
“I couldn’t stop smiling. Even just meeting everybody, and the new guys were looking like, ‘Who is this? Who is this? Who him? Who him?’ It was just super cool, man,” Collins remembered. “Like I said, just coming back in here and just knowing I can go out with these guys again for the third time …” He paused.
“Three times, that’s big.” And virtually unprecedented. Earlier Friday, Bill Belichick chalked up Collins’ addition to seizing an opportunity to add depth.
“He has some versatility,” Belichick said. “So we’ll work through it here and see how it goes.”
Collins is expected to contribute quickly at inside linebacker, where Ja’Whaun Bentley has been hampered recently by a shoulder injury. Bentley missed last week’s loss to the Buccaneers, leaving Dont’a Hightower and Kyle Van Noy to soak up those snaps. Hightower has yet to impact any game this season, even while flipping between inside and outside linebacker like Van Noy.
Collins is hoping just to play Sunday in Houston.
“I hope so. We’ll see, though, Collins said. “Like I said, I just got here. I come here to do my job, and I’m just here to do my job. Like I said, it’s a privilege and it’s an honor, and I’m grateful to be here. Whatever (Belichick) wants, (Belichick) gets.”
The only Patriots linebacker to make a regular impact has been newcomer Matt Judon. Earlier this week, Judon said he remembered following the Boogeymen crew — a group that has now reunited around him in positional meetings — from Baltimore.
“They were just smacking people,” Judon said. “It was probably one of the hardesthitting groups, or linebackers, in the NFL that year. And it showed up on film, and it also showed up in stats. And then, to make it even better, what they were doing was nobody cared who was making plays. … They just went out there, they were having fun and they were having fun together.
“I think that’s what made them a special group, and hopefully they can bring that energy back.”
When asked about Judon, the first thing that sprung to Collins’ mind was energy, followed by Judon’s habit of blaring music in the locker room.
“I picked that up the first day. He’s always on his stuff, he’s a true professional, a great guy from what I’ve seen,” Collins said before adding: “He plays hip-hop. So, we good. I’m about slow jams, and he plays it. He’s one of my guys, now.”
One his guys, one of the Boogeymen. A welcome sight for the Patriots, and a scary proposition for the rest of the NFL.