DBs know they cannot cut corners
FOXBOROUGH - Whether the jersey number had symbolic significance or was merely a coincidence, it did not go unnoticed.
Yesterday, the first day of Patriots rookie minicamp, there was cornerback Terrence Wheatley running around the Dana-Farber Field House wearing No. 22, last seen on Asante Samuel. It's too early to tell if Wheatley, the Patriots' second-round pick out of the University of Colorado, can fill Samuel's left cornerback spot. But the team wasted no time giving him Samuel's number.
"They just gave it to me. I don't care about the number. A number is a number," said Wheatley, who also wore No. 22 in high school. "The person makes the number; the player makes the number. Anybody could wear this number, and if they're terrible, then who cares? They could have given me whatever. I would have worn 99 or 00. It doesn't matter."
Whatever the jersey number, the Patriots have had success inculcating first-year cornerbacks. In 2003, Samuel intercepted two passes and Eugene Wilson, who was switched from cornerback, emerged as the starting free safety. In 2004, undrafted free agent Randall Gay went on to start in the Super Bowl. In 2005, Ellis Hobbs developed into a starter midway through the season. Now, with Samuel taking his Pro Bowl play to Philadelphia and Gay, who signed with the New Orleans Saints, gone, the Patriots are hoping Wheatley and fellow first-year cornerback Jonathan Wilhite can be the latest quick studies.
Both Wheatley and Wilhite, a fourth-round selection out of Auburn, feigned ignorance when asked about the opportunity to compete for playing time in a crowded cornerback crop whose only returning starter, Hobbs, is coming off surgeries to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder and a sports hernia.
"I honestly don't even look at it," said Wheatley. "Maybe when I make the team I can worry about it, but until then I'm just trying to make the team first."
A noticeably nervous Wilhite, who donned No. 24, demurred, preferring to let his play do the talking.
The 5-foot-9 1/2-inch, 185-pound Wilhite got off to a good start, breaking up a few passes, cleanly intercepting one pass, and appearing to grab another - batting away a deep ball, then reeling in the deflection on his back - before it hit the turf. He looked nothing like a corner with "zero ball skills" and "stone hands," as one draft guide described him.
"I haven't had the chance in a while to go against some receivers. It was good," said Wilhite. "I enjoyed myself. I felt like I played well with the guys that we had out there. I felt overall as a defense for our first day we did good."
Wheatley, who recently clocked 4.37 seconds in the 40-yard dash, is widely regarded as a faster version of Hobbs, a confident cornerback who never backs down from a challenge. Both are from the Dallas-Fort Worth area - Wheatley is from Plano, Texas, and Hobbs hails from DeSoto.
The scouting report on Wheatley said that his right wrist, which has undergone four surgeries and has a titanium rod in it, basically forced him to play one-handed last season. Both he and Patriots coach Bill Belichick dismissed the wrist as an issue.
"Obviously, the guys here felt like I played with two hands, and I played well, so I'm not going to worry about it," Wheatley said. "The wrist is a non-issue."
Wheatley, who is also 5-9 1/2, feels the same way about people who criticize the lack of height of both he and Wilhite.
"You can be as big as you want, but if you don't step up to the challenge, who cares?" said Wheatley. "Playing a bigger receiver to me doesn't matter, I'm still going to go out there and still play. It doesn't matter how big you are to me."
The big issue Wheatley and Wilhite have this weekend is trying to impress Belichick and the rest of the coaching staff. Belichick said that generally the biggest adjustment for cornerbacks coming from college is having to cover an expanded route tree, as pro passing attacks feature a greater variety of routes and are more sophisticated.
But even if they can't play defense right away, both corners could contribute on special teams. Yesterday, Wheatley and Wilhite auditioned as kick returners. Wheatley returned kickoffs at Colorado, and Wilhite said he did it at Butler County Community College in Kansas.
However, Wheatley and Wilhite know they will be judged from here on out by their NFL play.
"What you did in college, it doesn't matter anymore," said Wheatley, who picked off 14 passes at Colorado, including five last season. "It doesn't matter if you're first, second, third, fourth [round], free agent, whatever. When you get drafted you throw the money aside, and it doesn't really matter. You've still got to earn a job. Plenty of people get cut, second-, third-round guys. I know I got a job to do and a job to earn."
It looks like the Patriots are looking to fill those jobs from within first.
"We're always looking to improve our team at any position . . . so if we have an opportunity to improve, then we will, but let's see what we have," said Belichick.
