Relentless intensity big reason why Robert Spillane became immediately indispensable to Patriots defense
FOXBOROUGH — Robert Spillane is so intense, he makes coffee nervous.
The 30-year-old inside linebacker radiates energy. It doesn’t matter if it’s a minicamp practice in June, the first week of padded practices in August, or the fourth quarter of the AFC Championship game in January. He’s always dialed in.
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Asked Saturday why he brings such fervor on a daily basis, Spillane was quick to reply.
“That’s who I am. Without that intensity, there’s no football,” he said after Saturday’s practice, the third padded session of the summer for the Patriots. “I mean, this is a grown man’s game. You’ve got to come out here ready to hit another man. Be ready to run through somebody. Just being able to carry that intensity with consistency is what’s important for me.”
To that end, Spillane was the first guy on the field for Saturday’s steamy workout, and was at the front of the line for the position drills, including ball drills with defensive backs Kevin Byard and Christian Gonzalez. He took all of his regular reps in the 11-on-11 team drills with his typical full-tilt approach, despite the sweltering conditions.
After eight years in the league, there’s still only one way to play for the 6-foot-1-inch, 234-pounder. Particularly when the pads go on.
“Oh, I love it,” he said when asked about the prospect of being back in pads for a third straight day. “Anytime you get to come out here is really an opportunity to showcase who you are and who you want to be as a football player.
“When it gets hard, those people who say who they want to be, [they] really show up. So it gives you a chance to practice when you’re tired, practice when you’re a little bit sore after the first two days, and just continue to build on what we got going.”
His no-holds-barred approach is borne out of his origin story. An undrafted free agent out of Western Michigan who worked his way up the NFL food chain, he signed with Mike Vrabel and the Patriots as a free agent prior to the start of last season. He proved the heartbeat of the defense, finishing with a team-high 97 tackles.
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To be able to survive for eight seasons as an inside linebacker in the NFL is impressive. He said the secret is simple.
“It’s been keeping the main thing the main thing. Control what I can control,” he said. “Be a good teammate. That’s what I tell myself every day when I walk into the building. ‘How can I be a good teammate?’ And to me, being a good teammate, first and foremost, is going out there and making plays.”
For Spillane, who went to the playoffs for the third time in his career last season, the goal is to build on last postseason.
“Our expectations, from the top down, from the coaches to the players, [are] so much higher than at this point last year,” he said. “We expect to go out there and dominate each and every play. So any time we let up a play, we’re going to be very hard on ourselves. And yeah, I mean, lockdown corners, a dominant D line, guys that love to fly around and make hits — there’s a lot of expectations going into this year.”
Moving forward, there are questions about New England’s linebacker depth, both on the edge and inside, which may mean an awfully heavy workload for Spillane (who played 73 percent of the defensive snaps last season) and fellow inside linebacker Christian Elliss. Regardless of who’s out there, Spillane sounds confident about the group.
“I love Christian,” Spillane said. “A hard-nosed football player, through and through. Somebody who’s willing to do whatever it takes to go out there and get the job done. I just couldn’t be more proud of him and his continued growth.
“Then, when you talk about the guys in front of us,” he added, “we have a room full of [defensive] linemen who are willing to go out there and do what it takes. Such an exciting D-line that I’m playing behind this year. I just can’t wait to continue to build the chemistry.”
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