[ad_1]
New England Patriots defensive end Trey Flowers has recorded 19 tackles, two sacks and one forced fumble thus far into his contract year. (AP Photo/Gregory Payan)
The New England Patriots’ sack leader over the past two seasons will be a free agent after this one.
And while his name may not appear as the top result in search engines when the new league year opens in March, or atop Pro Bowl ballots when voting closes in December, Trey Flowers is no secret.
The 25-year-old defensive end has built a following.
Count Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy, whose side will host Flowers and the Patriots for a 1 p.m. ET kickoff at Soldier Field this Sunday, within it.
“He’s not the quote-unquote ‘big-name guy,’ but he’s the big-name guy amongst the coaching world,” Nagy said of Flowers on his conference call with New England media this week. “We know who he is and what he can do and we respect him and know he’s a hell of a player.”
Nagy, previously the Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive coordinator, crossed paths with Flowers in 2017 and saw him register two sacks along with five tackles firsthand.
Flowers would go on to finish the campaign ranked 14th as far as 4-3 defensive ends go in Pro Football Focus’ pass-rush productivity. His 18 quarterback hits tied for first.
But rushing the QB was just part of why Flowers, despite missing two games, played more downs for the Patriots last season than only defensive backs Stephon Gilmore, Patrick Chung, Devin McCourty and Malcolm Butler. It’s just part of why a quiet leader whose teammates have nicknamed “Technique” will soon be the most-coveted Patriot on the unrestricted market.
“He can hold the point, he’s strong, he’s quick, he’s fast, he plays in front of the quarterback,” added Nagy. “We know that he’s a good football player.”
Flowers amassed 47.5 tackles for loss and 18 sacks during his Arkansas Razorbacks career. The Senior Bowl invite also broke up 13 passes, intercepted another and forced four fumbles through his stay in SEC play.
Then he waited until the fourth round of the 2015 NFL draft at pick No. 101 overall.
Flowers wasn’t the first edge-rusher New England drafted that spring, arriving after Oklahoma’s Geneo Grissom. He wasn’t on the field for more than one game during his rookie season in Foxborough, either. Nor did he start his first game or collect his first sack for the team until the midway point in 2016.
But a steady incline it’s been dating back to then. Both versus the run and the pass, off the edge and on the interior, in Super Bowls and in the regular season.
Flowers exited early this September against the Jacksonville Jaguars due to a concussion that held him out for New England’s subsequent loss to the Detroit Lions. His presence was illustrated in his absence. The Patriots were worse for it.
He’s since returned to log 120 defensive snaps through three consecutive wins.
Flowers is scheduled to earn $1.907 million in base salary this season. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
And thus far into a contract year, Flowers has logged 19 tackles, with 3.5 netting a loss, two sacks and one forced fumble in his handful of starts. His 17 total quarterback pressures stand second on New England’s front behind the 20 put forth by veteran Adrian Clayborn, who joined on a two-year, $10 million pact in the spring. His PFF grade stands fifth leaguewide at his position.
Yet Flowers isn’t thinking about numbers.
“No, I don’t do number goals,” Flowers said last week on WEEI’s Dale & Keefe. “I more just do technique goals, just kind of like if a certain offense did something to me one week, I could go into the next week knowing how to prepare for it, or knowing how to play it a little better – or pad level, hand placement, little things like that.
“I’m more focused on technique goals because the numbers are going come once you have the right technique down, the right timing, things like that. So, you just more work on yourself.”
Numbers of a different kind are also going to come for Flowers. The $705,000 base salary he was scheduled to earn in the final year of his rookie deal rose to $1.907 million as a result of proven-performance escalators.
He’s going to watch that multiply in 2019.
That won’t make him the Bears’ Khalil Mack. But Flowers already is a player the competition must be made aware of.
“Yeah, he is,” said Nagy.
“>
New England Patriots defensive end Trey Flowers has recorded 19 tackles, two sacks and one forced fumble thus far into his contract year. (AP Photo/Gregory Payan)
The New England Patriots’ sack leader over the past two seasons will be a free agent after this one.
And while his name may not appear as the top result in search engines when the new league year opens in March, or atop Pro Bowl ballots when voting closes in December, Trey Flowers is no secret.
The 25-year-old defensive end has built a following.
Count Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy, whose side will host Flowers and the Patriots for a 1 p.m. ET kickoff at Soldier Field this Sunday, within it.
“He’s not the quote-unquote ‘big-name guy,’ but he’s the big-name guy amongst the coaching world,” Nagy said of Flowers on his conference call with New England media this week. “We know who he is and what he can do and we respect him and know he’s a hell of a player.”
Nagy, previously the Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive coordinator, crossed paths with Flowers in 2017 and saw him register two sacks along with five tackles firsthand.
Flowers would go on to finish the campaign ranked 14th as far as 4-3 defensive ends go in Pro Football Focus’ pass-rush productivity. His 18 quarterback hits tied for first.
But rushing the QB was just part of why Flowers, despite missing two games, played more downs for the Patriots last season than only defensive backs Stephon Gilmore, Patrick Chung, Devin McCourty and Malcolm Butler. It’s just part of why a quiet leader whose teammates have nicknamed “Technique” will soon be the most-coveted Patriot on the unrestricted market.
“He can hold the point, he’s strong, he’s quick, he’s fast, he plays in front of the quarterback,” added Nagy. “We know that he’s a good football player.”
Flowers amassed 47.5 tackles for loss and 18 sacks during his Arkansas Razorbacks career. The Senior Bowl invite also broke up 13 passes, intercepted another and forced four fumbles through his stay in SEC play.
Then he waited until the fourth round of the 2015 NFL draft at pick No. 101 overall.
Flowers wasn’t the first edge-rusher New England drafted that spring, arriving after Oklahoma’s Geneo Grissom. He wasn’t on the field for more than one game during his rookie season in Foxborough, either. Nor did he start his first game or collect his first sack for the team until the midway point in 2016.
But a steady incline it’s been dating back to then. Both versus the run and the pass, off the edge and on the interior, in Super Bowls and in the regular season.
Flowers exited early this September against the Jacksonville Jaguars due to a concussion that held him out for New England’s subsequent loss to the Detroit Lions. His presence was illustrated in his absence. The Patriots were worse for it.
He’s since returned to log 120 defensive snaps through three consecutive wins.
Flowers is scheduled to earn $1.907 million in base salary this season. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
And thus far into a contract year, Flowers has logged 19 tackles, with 3.5 netting a loss, two sacks and one forced fumble in his handful of starts. His 17 total quarterback pressures stand second on New England’s front behind the 20 put forth by veteran Adrian Clayborn, who joined on a two-year, $10 million pact in the spring. His PFF grade stands fifth leaguewide at his position.
Yet Flowers isn’t thinking about numbers.
“No, I don’t do number goals,” Flowers said last week on WEEI’s Dale & Keefe. “I more just do technique goals, just kind of like if a certain offense did something to me one week, I could go into the next week knowing how to prepare for it, or knowing how to play it a little better – or pad level, hand placement, little things like that.
“I’m more focused on technique goals because the numbers are going come once you have the right technique down, the right timing, things like that. So, you just more work on yourself.”
Numbers of a different kind are also going to come for Flowers. The $705,000 base salary he was scheduled to earn in the final year of his rookie deal rose to $1.907 million as a result of proven-performance escalators.
He’s going to watch that multiply in 2019.
That won’t make him the Bears’ Khalil Mack. But Flowers already is a player the competition must be made aware of.
“Yeah, he is,” said Nagy.
