Jaylen Reed’s first game as a member of the New England Patriots was relatively quiet. The team, however, is not concerned about its late-summer trade pickup.
As secondary coach Scott Booker explained earlier this week, the team is happy with Reed’s projection since his arrival.
“I think he’s doing a good job,” Booker said. “First and foremost, it’s always just one of those things where you’re getting to know someone personally. When they come in the room, just trying to figure out where they’re from,
where I’m from, and just trying to get a little bit of a personal relationship. Then the next thing is trying to translate what they’re defense were, where they came from, into our defensive language. That takes a couple of days. We got through those times.”
Booker went on to outline the Patriots’ developmental plan for Reed. Starting in the classroom, he was later introduced to New England’s new virtual reality room and the in-practice reality.
That progression apparently went well so far, even though Reed is still getting used to the intricacies of being with a new team.
“He continued to improve and continued to learn,” Booker said. “The details are continuing to come to light every practice, every rep that he gets. So, excited about getting him here first off, and then also just continuing to see his progression. Each program of each 32 NFL teams does things a little bit differently. It goes to stuff in the building. Where’s the training room? How does the training room work? The cafeteria? All that type of stuff. Meetings and then also on the field.
“So, just continuing to try and help him acclimate to how we do things, the communication of our safeties, the disguises and all those things that we do. He’s doing a good job and excited about him.”
Coming off a four-year career at Penn State, Reed originally entered the NFL as a sixth-round draft pick with the Houston Texans. Knee and arm injuries limited him to nine games during his rookie campaign, but he started both of the Texans’s playoff games while being on the field for a combined 82% of their defensive snaps.
The Patriots apparently liked what they saw from the 23-year-old, and brought him aboard in exchange for wide receiver Kayshon Boutte in late August. In his debut with the team, he played eight of 22 kicking game snaps and none on defense.
Still, Booker and the Patriots like his potential within their defense.
“Like any position and like anybody, the more you can do the better,” he said. “With our safeties and our corners, guys that are on the roster, having the knowledge of multiple positions if you’re able to is best. First of all, it allows you to get onto the field potentially quicker and it also helps you holistically understand, ‘Okay, if this position is doing this, then I have to do this. This is how the puzzle pieces fit.’
“We teach in a holistic way and feel like Jaylen may have some multiple-position ability. And so [we are] teaching him potentially a couple positions.”
