Teaming Keith Byard, a ‘Vrable guy’, with Craig Woodson has made safety a position of strength

Sport admin July 22, 2026 0 Comments

Teaming Keith Byard, a ‘Vrable guy’, with Craig Woodson has made safety a position of strength

With training camp set to start at the end of the month, we’ll provide a position-by-position breakdown of where the Patriots stand. After a look at the offense, we flipped to the defense. We’ve gone through the line, the linebackers/edge defenders, and the cornerbacks. Today, it’s the safeties.

Roll call (regular-season stats): Craig Woodson (79 tackles, 3 passes defensed, 2 fumble recoveries), Dell Pettus (20 tackles, 1 sack, 2 passes defensed), Brenden Schooler (19 tackles), Kevin Byard (93 tackles, 8 passes defensed, 7 interceptions with the Bears), Mike Brown (3 tackles with the Titans), Kobee Minor (1 tackle), John Saunders, Peter Manuma.

By the numbers:

36: The number of career interceptions for Byard. He’s second among active players, trailing only the Vikings’ Harrison Smith (39).

950: The number of defensive snaps Woodson played last season, tops on the team. He was the first Patriots rookie to play 90 percent or more of the defensive snaps since Devin McCourty in 2010.

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The skinny: One of the key elements of Mike Vrabel’s team-building approach since he took over was to find his guys. Players who had been with him at previous stops, were aware of Vrabel’s expectation level, and could help him translate that message to the rest of the locker room. In his first year, he imported Robert Spillane, Jack Gibbens, and Harold Landry. This past offseason, it was A.J. Brown and Byard, among others.

Byard is one of the best examples of a Vrabel guy; a seasoned veteran who found success when paired with the coach in Tennessee. If spring workouts were any indication, he’ll have a key role on this squad. Byard, who will turn 33 in August, was working this spring as a de facto coach on the field, calling out assignments and pulling younger players to the side for conversations. He may not be able to replicate the seven interceptions he had last year with the Bears, but his steadiness, leadership, and toughness will factor into the state of the Patriots’ secondary.

“It’s all about serving the next guy, serving this team, doing what I can,” Byard said this spring. “I don’t just purposely try to say, ‘Hey, I’m going to be your leader’ or anything like that. It’s just more like a natural thing. If he has questions, I’m going to answer any questions. I’m going to be there for him. We’re going to watch film together. I’m a big guy trying to get the team together, the group together to watch film and stuff like that. So, we’ll get into all that once we start playing ball.

“When I was a young player, I was like a sponge. I wanted to learn from every guy, coach, player. I wanted to know when the top guys on the team were getting into the facility in the morning. What was your routine? What was your out-of-the-building routine? When were you getting massages and stuff like that? I’m going try to be that type of guy for this team.”

It’s not just Byard at the safety position. While there were some rookie moments in 2025, Woodson is coming off a season in which he earned the trust of the coaching staff. Pettus and Schooler are among those who provide quality depth, while Brown — another Vrabel guy who worked with the coach in Tennessee — showed plenty of positive flashes as a backup safety and special teamer. Ultimately, this room isn’t stocked with the talent we’ll see at some other positions this season, but led by Byard, it projects to be a heady, steady bunch that should be counted on to be major factors in the defensive game plan.

How does this position rate against the rest of the league? Excellent. Byard and Woodson make up one of the best pairings in the league. Provided they can stay healthy, this is likely a top-10 duo.

Quote of note: “I think it’s just the culture. When I was at Chicago last year, I understood the type of culture Mike was going to build here. I knew he was going to have success pretty soon. Being here, being back in the fold of the culture, you understand . . . why it’s a winning culture. How guys work. How guys push through. It’s a very family vibe. Guys want to work, guys want to win. It’s a very selfless culture, and something I’m happy and glad to be back a part of.” — Byard on why he signed a one-year deal with the Patriots.

Biggest story lines: Will Woodson suffer any drop-off after a strong rookie year? Can the Byard-Woodson duo mesh quickly? And can newcomer Mike Brown be an under-the-radar presence capable of providing depth at safety and special teams?