Jamie Collins is a man of few words.
When the linebacker can be found, he’ll answer the media in short, abrupt sentences, and sometimes it’s difficult to track him down at all. After the New England Patriots beat the San Diego Chargers 23-14 on Sunday night, the linebacker stayed on the field late for a short interview with NBC’s Michele Tafoya — one of his answers was “no” — returned to the locker room, removed his nameplate, grabbed his clothes and bag and disappeared before the media even arrived for post-game quotes.
Collins only would come out to meet with the media if he was joined by fellow linebacker Dont’a Hightower after the Patriots beat the Indianapolis Colts 43-22 in last season’s playoff matchup, when he shut down tight end Coby Fleener and tortured quarterback Andrew Luck with his pass rush.
Not to resort to a cliche, but Collins is the epitome of someone who lets his play speak for itself. Collins recorded two sacks and nine tackles Sunday against the Chargers, all while calling plays in the huddle with Hightower out with a shoulder injury. Collins found himself as a headline in postgame stories without delivering a single quote.
Collins might not want to talk, but his teammates have no problem doing it for him. There have been murmurs of Collins’ athletic showcases in practices since Collins was drafted in the second round of the 2013 NFL draft, but never specific examples.
Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman recently posted on Instagram that Collins is “probably the most athletic man I’ve ever seen.” Edelman expounded to NESN.com.
“He can touch this ceiling not warmed up,” Edelman said about Collins’ leaping ability. “He runs like a 4.5 (second 40-yard dash), and he’s 260 pounds — and he’s great in space. I just think he’s very athletic.”
Coming out of Southern Miss last season, Collins ran a 4.59-second 40-yard dash, set the NFL scouting combine record with an 11-foot-7 broad jump and leaped 41.5 inches in the vertical.
The video of his broad jump remains one of the most amazing athletic feats caught on camera.
“Yeah, when he jumps,” tight end Rob Gronkowski said about when Collins’ athleticism sticks out. “He’s a middle linebacker, and when the ball gets thrown, he’ll just jump in the air and snag the ball out of nowhere. That just shows what a freak athletically he is. He just jumps in the air, you don’t think he’s going to catch it, and then boom, he snags it out of the air and just jumps super high. It’s crazy.”
Collins is the ultimate linebacker, adept as a run-stuffer, pass-rusher and in coverage. He has three sacks on the season — all in the past two games — has recorded 17 pressures in just 68 opportunities, is allowing a 64.5 passer rating in coverage (21 of 40 for 199 yards with one touchdown and an interception) and leads the team in tackles with 95.
“Yeah, he’s freakish, he’s really freakish,” cornerback Darrelle Revis said. “It’s crazy some of the stuff he does at practice and even in the games sometimes. He’s always making plays, and he’s always around the ball. Probably could play safety, man. If he had that opportunity to play, because he’s so versatile, and he’s fast — he’s not slow. He can run. I definitely agree with all the other guys. He’s probably the most freakish athlete I’ve been around in recent years, yeah.”
Collins started his career at Southern Miss as a safety, then switched to linebacker during his sophomore year and again to defensive end for his final two seasons, recording 16.5 sacks. He brings aspects of all three positions to the Patriots.
“He makes so many plays, you just sit there and say ‘Wow’ — just how athletic he is, but at the same time, he’s smart,” Revis said. “He’s very smart. You got a freakish athlete that’s a smart football player too, he can get away with a lot of stuff out there. He has all the tools. He has it all, man, and he’s been playing lights-out too. It’s been great.”
Head coach Bill Belichick lauded Collins’ ability as the defensive play-caller in Sunday’s game. That role has been passed from Jerod Mayo, who’s out for the season with a knee injury, to Hightower and now to Collins.
“I thought he did a great job, I thought did a real good job,” Belichick said Monday on WEEI. “San Diego’s a team that’s spent a lot of time at the line of scrimmage, similar to the Denver offense. They used a lot of formationing, three receivers away from the ball, three open, four open, sometimes five open with the back out. They did that quite a bit, which Jamie usually was the adjuster on that and he went out to make those adjustments. And a lot of the time the back would come back in, so we had to make another adjustment to the defense. And he’s right in the middle of it, communicating with the linebackers, with the inside coverage players, with the defensive line, getting that coordinated. He and Hightower have done a good job since Jerod got injured and last night a lot more of it fell to Jamie. I thought he handled it very well.”
Collins has been asked to play all three linebacker roles in his two years as a pro, which is a lot of trust to be handed to a young defender who played just one year at the position in college.
“Well, of course everyone talks about his athleticism, but his knowledge of the defense is up there,” linebacker Jonathan Casillas said. “He can talk the game along with the best of the best — you know, the Hightowers and the McCourtys of the world. His football IQ is pretty high. People always talk about his athleticism, which is pretty evident, but his football IQ is up there too.”
How evident is that athleticism?
“One of those weeks — I forget which week it was — I mean, he probably had about five or six interceptions in practice during the week in three days,” Casillas said. “That stands out for a guy that big, who can rush the passer as well as he can and to be able to handle the ball and get the ball in his hands and go the other way.”
Defensive tackle Vince Wilfork had a tough time conceding that Collins is more athletic than himself. And the fact that the agile nose tackle was able to admit it at all is impressive.
“He’s something special. But I’m something special too,” Wilfork said with a smile. “I think he’s probably the most — pound for pound — athletic guy we have. Things he does, and the way he can move, the way he can run, the way he can jump, it’s amazing. I give that nod to him. But right up under him is me.”
Collins’ athletic feats aren’t limited to football, either.
“He can do a backflip for you right there, if he was standing there, which is pretty impressive,” defensive end Rob Ninkovich said. “Very athletic. He’s just a guy who can pretty much do a lot. He’s a very athletic guy and very explosive.”
Collins essentially is the perfect Belichick player: He doesn’t talk, he’s easily moldable, he’s smart and his athleticism fits nearly any position in any defensive front. Collins’ pass-rushing ability has allowed the Patriots to experiment with dropping defensive ends Akeem Ayers and Ninkovich into coverage, and those plays have resulted in three sacks and two interceptions.
The Collins draft pick was a surprise to some when he was selected in 2013. It obviously shouldn’t have been.
“Far and away is one of the best athletes I’ve ever seen. Period,” special teams extraordinaire Matthew Slater said. “You name it, he can do it. He’s fun to watch on that football field. He makes plays almost every day that you’re like, ‘Wow.’ Pick a ball off, it looks like he jumped five feet in the air, or he’ll run with a receiver up the seam, or he’ll change direction like he’s got the hips of a defensive back. The kid is — God broke the mold on that one, I’ll tell you that.”
Thumbnail photo via Lenny Ignelzi/Associated Press
