Brown invaluable to Patriots
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Troy Brown used to tease secondary coach Eric Mangini about playing defensive back. And it was more than a one-time joke.
“I’d been teasing him for a couple years about it,” Brown said. “It wasn’t something I took real serious. I didn’t think it would ever happen.”
Until that day in training camp this past summer, when New England coach Bill Belichick walked into the locker room five minutes before practice and told Brown: “You’ve got some reps today on defense.”
“I was (thinking), ‘What?’ ” Brown recalled. “I didn’t even know the calls, so I didn’t know what to do. He put me out there, put me in one-on-one drills. It was the worst thing you wanted to see, but I kept working at it. I got better at it.”
But he never played the position in a game. Until, that is, the afternoon of Nov. 7 at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. The Patriots already were missing starting corners Ty Law, a four-time Pro Bowler, and Tyrone Poole, a nine-year veteran.
That made little-known Asante Samuel and the equally unheralded Randall Gay the starters against the Rams. But Samuel went down with a shoulder injury on the Rams’ second offensive play. Brown had to go in to be the team’s nickel back. The Patriots had no other options.
“As soon as (Samuel) went down, I started stretching,” Brown said. “I was a little nervous. To have to come in against the Rams, of all teams. Their speed can be intimidating. But I knew I had to stay calm and hold my own.”
Before the day was over, Brown was on the field for 60 plays: 36 as the Pats’ nickel corner and 24 as their third wide receiver. On offense, he caught three passes, including a four-yard touchdown reception from Adam Vinatieri on a fake field goal.
On defense, he had three tackles, one pass breakup and one pass interference penalty.
Thus began his career as “Two Way” Brown. Actually, “Three Way” is more appropriate. Brown is the team’s primary punt returner.
The following week against Buffalo, Brown intercepted his first NFL pass, against Drew Bledsoe of all people. Bledsoe, after all, had thrown Brown many of his 475 career receptions in the NFL while quarterbacking the Patriots.
“He’s a good friend,” Brown said. “It was against my QB from my first days (in the NFL). It was a kind of bittersweet feeling, but I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do for my football team, and that’s make (big) plays.”
Brown made his share of big plays the rest of the season. He finished with three interceptions, 17 tackles and five pass breakups.
His role isn’t nearly as big on offense these days. In 2001, the season in which the Patriots beat the Rams in the Super Bowl, he caught a franchise-record 101 passes and made the Pro Bowl for the only time in his 12-year NFL career. Younger legs are getting most of the reps at wide receiver these days for New England. Brown finished with only 17 receptions this season.
But he’s on the field enough on offense and defense that he’s a true dual threat, something unheard of in today’s NFL.
“It’s an amazing thing,” Eagles coach Andy Reid said. “He’s a gifted guy. He’s a smart guy. It doesn’t surprise me that he’s doing it, but it’s very difficult what he’s doing. He makes it look easy, but it’s not.”