A feel for the d-line room

In Sunday's Boston Globe football notes, Patriots defensive line coach Pepper Johnson talks about his coaching career and how his position in New England was unexpected.

One leftover Pepper grind that didn't make it into the piece was Johnson talking about the atmosphere in the defensive line room. I had asked him what it is like leading a room with some of the NFL's more talented linemen, a group including Richard Seymour, Ty Warren and Vince Wilfork.

“I tell a lot of people that I’m blessed in that aspect also. Not only are they talented between the lines, they are a great group of guys to work with in the meeting room, the classroom. I don’t get the attitudes. I don’t have guys that are working on their own programs. For the most part, we get into the room and we can laugh or crack a joke, like we did when Ty Warren caught that big fish. But when it’s time to click on the film, it’s all serious. They’re asking me questions, even though they have already started to get to know the players they are playing against, which Coach Belichick asks them to do on Tuesdays. They keep me on my toes. The last thing I want to do is have any of them playing with one hand behind their back. You can’t fool those guys, pretending you are coaching defensive line and not really knowing anything. They know the game, understand the game.”