During the offseason program, the players who don’t show up get most of the attention. The players who fully participate get overlooked.
For the Patriots, where newcomers like receiver Stefon Diggs and cornerback Carlton Davis generated headlines for not showing up for voluntary workouts, newly-signed defensive tackle Milton Williams did.
Via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com, the former Eagles defender was a full participant in the offseason program. Reiss adds this observation: “And he seemed to embrace Vrabel’s approach of being hardest on the team’s best players.”
While Vrabel and all coaches are prevented by the Collective Bargaining Agreement from saying or doing anything to suggest that the voluntary workouts aren’t voluntary, this specific aspect of Vrabel’s plan for coaching his team demonstrates how he feels about players choosing — and not choosing — to be there.
Given that Vrabel likes to be hardest on the team’s best players, it’ll be interesting to see if players like Diggs and Davis have bought themselves an even more memorable experience in late July and August.
