Jalen Mills is getting used to life with the Patriots as the team goes through organized team activities, but his acclimation process hasn’t advanced to playing a particular position in their defensive backfield.
Mills is listed as a cornerback on the team’s roster, but he lined up as a free safety, box safety, outside cornerback, and slot cornerback for the Eagles last season. While speaking with reporters this week, Mills said that Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has told him to focus on the overall structure of the team’s defense for the time being and word on his exact fit will come down the road.
“Not yet, as of right now,” MIlls said, via MassLive.com. “Coach Bill was just telling me, just try to learn the base of the defense, the structure of the defense. I’m trying to learn everything and we’re talking about you know a coach — he’s gonna put me as a player and the rest of guys in the best position to succeed.”
The Patriots have a variety of pieces to use in the secondary and they’ll likely use all of the offseason, training camp, and preseason to determine how to best deploy them during the 2021 season.
Jalen Mills learning structure of Patriots defense, not thinking about primary role yet originally appeared on Pro Football Talk