FOXBORO, Mass. — Jonathan Casillas might provide valuable linebacker depth in the future, but New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick had different plans for the newly acquired veteran Sunday.
Casillas was a “core-four” special-teamer in the Patriots’ 43-21 win over Denver Broncos, meaning he played on kickoffs, kick returns, punts and punt returns. The 6-foot-1, 227-pound sixth-year pro recorded three tackles — all on kickoffs — and downed a Ryan Allen punt.
“We’ve integrated some new guys into those units,” Belichick said Monday in a conference call. “I mean Casillas had a real good night for us last night with his play on the special teams: tackles and coverage and return units and protection and so forth.”
Belichick also had high praise for special teams coach Scott O’Brien and assistant Joe Judge. The Patriots had a big night on special teams, allowing just 13.5 yards per kick return and a 9-yard punt return. Julian Edelman also had an 84-yard touchdown on a punt return, and Allen booted a ball 67 yards — a season high.
“Scott and Joe do a great job,” Belichick said. “They work really hard. They coach every player: the guys that are playing, the guys that aren’t playing, the guys that are on the look teams every week, the guys that are on the practice squad. I think that all collectively helps us. Even the guys that we’re working against are getting better, which makes the guys that are playing work harder and get better and so forth.
“Those guys do a great job. I’m really, really lucky to have both of them on the staff. They do a tremendous job.”
Edelman had an interesting word choice to describe O’Brien.
“He gets in there, and the dude is, like, psycho with special teams and prepares you for every little thing that you can think of,” Edelman said Sunday after the game. “I mean, eight-man, two seconds left before the half goes, where you have to fair catch it and get a free kick. That hasn’t been done since like, 1982, and we still practice it like every week.”
No NFL team takes more pride in special teams than the Patriots, and it shows with their roster construction. They carry nine players who only contribute on special teams: Allen, Casillas, kicker Stephen Gostkowski, long snapper Danny Aiken, Matthew Slater, Don Jones, Chris White, Nate Ebner and Brandon Bolden.
