Chase Winovich is trying to be as patient as possible as he works his way back into game form.
After missing the first preseason contest, the New England Patriots' third-year linebacker was back for Thursday's shellacking of the Philadelphia Eagles. Winovich had started training camp on the physically unable to perform list, but returned to practice earlier this week.
He was at times Thursday looking like he hadn't missed a beat. After leading the Patriots in sacks last season, Winovich had a pair against the Eagles, ultimately finishing with five total tackles, four of which were solo.
The 26-year-old has a way with words, so he managed to compare his return to a spider building a web.
Because why not?
"It feels like forever when you're going through certain processes," Winovich said. "But honestly I just do my best to take things one day at a time, or as the back of my hoodie says, 'Strand-by-Strand'. Just like building a web, all you can do is build it piece-by-piece and take things one day at a time. Luckily for me, I'm surrounded by a great support staff. I've had so many blessings come into my life and so many people express to me so much love that this has truly been a transformative experience for me going through it."
It had to have felt good for Winovich to make an instant impact.
He has great ability as a pass rusher, but last season his snap counts fluctuated often and the Patriots retooled their linebacker corps in the offseason, giving the Michigan product an even tougher path to playing time.
Winovich still has time to prove he's deserving of a healthy amount of action, but, for him, Thursday was a key first step.
