Gilmore looks forward to facing Rams again
Key interception in Super Bowl victory
The last time Stephon Gilmore faced the Rams, he enjoyed maybe the most special moment of his career.
The cornerback intercepted Jared Goff late in the fourth quarter, which helped seal the Patriots’ sixth Super Bowl title. Less than two years later, he’ll face the Rams again Thursday night in Los Angeles. Gilmore isn’t one to get too emotional or dwell on the past, but he has fond memories.
“I have a picture of (the interception) on my house on my wall, and obviously we have the trophy that reminds me of that moment, but that was one of the best parts of my career, playing that game against those guys. It’s a new year. They have the same players, have the same quarterback, same coach. It’s going to be a great opportunity for us. They’re playing great ball right now, so I’m just looking forward to it.”
Gilmore should be looking forward to it given how well he’s been playing. After a slow start to the season, the cornerback is playing like an All-Pro again as he’s shut down two of the best wide receivers in the NFL over the last two weeks. DeAndre Hopkins had just five receptions for
55 yards in the Patriots’ win over the Cardinals before Gilmore limited Chargers
wideout Keenan Allen to five catches for 48 yards.
With the help of
Gilmore’s standout performances, the Patriots defense has produced their best two games of the season. On a short week, the cornerback is looking forward to quickly building on it in what will again be a critical game for the Patriots’ playoff chances.
“I think we took a step forward these last couple of weeks,” Gilmore said. “We’re trying to get better and better every week. I feel like we have a great team coming in this week in the Rams. They have a great team, great defense, great offense. We have to get through these guys to get to where we want to go, so I feel like what other opportunity would you want than to play these guys?”
Uche takes on more
The Patriots’ pass rush was a big key in their victory over the Chargers on Sunday, as it generated three sacks of Justin Herbert and pressured him all afternoon in the 45-0 rout. Though he didn’t earn a sack, rookie Josh Uche was in on three quarterback hits of Herbert.
After missing time on injured reserve earlier this season, Uche has been a big boost to the defense and has even earned some added responsibility.
“It’s good to have Josh out there,” Bill Belichick said. “He provides situationally an element of pass rush and passing game value for us. We’ll continue to build on that, but he’s improved and he’s worked hard to understand what we’re doing and also how that changes from game to game and he’s taken some communication roles over defensively and that’s been good, so he’s definitely improving. He’s working hard and he’s got some skills that I think can help us.”
First pick
Chase Winovich earned his first career NFL interception in Sunday’s win when he picked off Herbert in the third quarter. The Chargers quarterback rolled to his right, but when the Patriots snuffed out a pass there, Herbert threw the ball across his body to the other side of the field, where Winovich stepped in front of Jalen Guyton and made an impressive snag.
Belichick said Winovich has had a learning curve in playing off the line of scrimmage, but the hard work he’s put in that department paid off on Sunday.
“Chase read it well and made a good catch, which for a defensive lineman, that’s not something they do a lot of, but that was a good catch in traffic and a big play for us,” Belichick said.
“Chase has improved his coverage and he works hard on that, he really does. John Simon, those guys have really helped him along, but he’s embraced it and he’s willing to do whatever he can to help the
team.”
Big man on campus
Matthew Slater is back at his alma mater, and he’s making sure everybody knows.
Slater is a UCLA alum, and as the Patriots stay in Los Angeles, they’ve been able to check out the campus a bit.
“We were looking around campus for the statue of him, but I guess that’s yet to be put up,” said Cody Davis, a core special teamer. “We joked with him that this was ‘ The House That Slater Built,’ but no, it’s been great to see him back. He got to share some of his experiences going through college making him the man that he is today, so that was really neat to hear some of those stories.” …
The Patriots didn’t practice on Monday, but if they had, a hypothetical injury report revealed that 14 players would have been limited. That includes Cam Newton, who continues to nurse an abdomen injury, and Jonathan Jones (neck) and J.C. Jackson (hip/ knee), who each left Sunday’s game. …
The Patriots cut wide receiver Isaiah Ford on Saturday one month after trading for him from the Dolphins, but he could be back after reportedly clearing waivers on Monday.
“We’ll see how it goes moving forward,” Belichick said. “Hopefully, we can continue to work with him. We’ll see how it goes.”