Alex Guerrero has pretty mixed reviews in New England.
The trainer widely is credited for helping Patriots players, chiefly Tom Brady, perform their best and remain durable. But his presence around the organization reportedly has played a role in the alleged tension between Brady and head coach Bill Belichick.
But regardless of the friction Guerrero’s existence reportedly causes, Brady has been adamant that his career longevity is due to the trainer, and many other players have echoed that statement.
Ex-Pats linebacker Willie McGinest is among them.
During an appearance on WEEI’s “Not Sunday” podcast with Ryan Hannable, McGinest explained how Guerrero made both him and his teammates better.
“I know a lot of people talk about that, but Alex was there to help the entire team get better,” McGinest said, as transcribed by WEEI.com. “For the guys who didn’t take advantage of it, we would raise an eyebrow. Tommy saw how significant Alex was and the preventative things he works on you with and the longevity he provides with his work and how he can read the body and understand everything that goes into each different position. All positions are different — linebackers, quarterbacks. It is all different how we train and how we prepare. To have a guy that valuable in your back pocket to be with you for so long, I would say it is a special relationship.”
McGinest then expounded on how the differences in those positions result in a personalized experience from the trainer.
“For me, I hit on every single play since I was in the trenches,” McGinest said. “Obviously, it’s a little different for Brady, to say the least. As far as me, just my metabolism, as far as my eating. Drinking more water, certain stretches, certain things I can do differently. Lifting weights a certain way — not extracting them, but just lifting weights compared to my body type. Understanding my running motion and all the different things that go on and nuances, the little things that go on with a player that Alex could diagnose. He could look and say, ‘Try doing this, or I watched you doing this, or I watched tape of you doing this — you’re putting pressure on here. This quad or hamstring is bothering you because something else isn’t firing. We have to figure it out.’ Just assessing the body from head to toe on a daily basis and working on you doing things to put you in a position to avoid injury. And when you do get injured, he would get you back as fast as possible.”
Even if there is some truth to Guerrero causing some of the frustration within the walls of Gillette Stadium, you can’t argue the results coming from the players who sing his praises.
