Patriots Draft Bust Will Have ‘Chip’ On Shoulder In Return, Veteran Says

FOXBORO, Mass. — Lawrence Guy will see a familiar face when he stares across the line of scrimmage this Sunday.

Isaiah Wynn, the much-maligned former Patriots tackle who left for Miami this offseason, now is starting at left guard for the Dolphins. The 2018 first-round draft pick will face his old team for the first time this week on “Sunday Night Football.”

Guy said he expects Wynn to be justifiably motivated in his return to Gillette Stadium.

“I know he has a chip on his shoulder coming back into the stadium,” the veteran defensive lineman said Thursday. “I would too if I was in his position.”

Wynn’s five seasons in Foxboro were defined by injuries and inconsistency. The Georgia product missed his entire rookie season, then sat out eight games as an NFL sophomore and six more in Year 3. Wynn started every game at left tackle in 2021, but he followed that up with a nightmare 2022 campaign.

After picking up his fifth-year option the previous offseason, New England made the puzzling decision to flip Wynn from left tackle to right tackle last spring. He struggled in that new spot, was benched in October and then suffered another season-ending injury in late November.

Wynn sat in free agency for nearly two months before signing a one-year contract with the AFC East rival Dolphins, who moved him inside to guard. The 26-year-old performed well there in his Miami debut, playing 66 snaps with no sacks or pressures allowed in a 36-34 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.

“I think he’s doing really good over there,” Guy said. “He’s playing left guard, and I see the development he has from taking that transition from tackle to guard. He’s using good fundamentals, and that’s one of the things that I was very impressed about when I saw him on film.

“His fundamentals are there. His energy is there. He’s also a hard worker. He’s one of those players that will stop at the whistle. He’s not going to give you a free play. He’s going to work every single down, every single time.”

Guy also pointed to Wynn’s institutional knowledge as a potential asset for Miami. New England returned almost its entire front seven from last season, so Wynn has logged copious practice reps against nearly every defender he’ll face Sunday.

“He knows our defense,” Guy said. “He’s practiced against us many times — scout team, training camp — so we understand that he understands how we’re going to play our fronts. He understands each player that’s on our D-line.”

Though it’s only September, Sunday’s game is an important one in what’s expected to be a highly competitive AFC East. The high-powered Dolphins are looking to move to 2-0 while the Patriots are trying to avoid their first 0-2 start since 2001.