Patriots defensive coordinator Terrell Williams to miss rookie minicamp due to medical condition
"I’m not away, I’m not off the football team. I’m just, I’m working remotely right now.”
FOXBOROUGH — The Patriots were without their new defensive coordinator for rookie minicamp on Friday, with head coach Mike Vrabel announcing that Terrell Williams is not present due to a “medical condition”.
Inside linebackers coach Zak Kuhr will take over Williams’ duties in the interim.
“I have been in constant communication with him daily,” Vrabel said Friday of Williams. “Zak Kuhr has been handling those responsibilities in Terrell’s absence. Terrell is eager to get back, and we’re excited to get him back. He’s still been in contact with the players through Zoom, and with myself and the rest of the coaching staff.”
Vrabel did not set a timeline down for when Williams, 50, is set to return to the Patriots.
Speaking on a video conference call hours later, Williams shared a bit more on the “traumatic” experience that has kept him home in Detroit as of late.
“I came back home here to Detroit, for spring break, and had a little medical scare. I mean, it wasn’t a little medical scare. It was a medical scare,” Williams said. “Since then, per doctor’s orders, I’ve kind of stayed here, in Detroit, and been handling that.”
New England hired Williams this offseason to replace former defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington. Williams worked with Vrabel for six years (2018-2023) with the Tennessee Titans, and was most recently a defensive line coach and run game coordinator for the Detroit Lions this past year.
During his time working on the Titans’ defensive line from 2018-23, Williams’ unit ranked fourth in the NFL with only 10,044 rushing yards allowed over that span.
Williams only spent one season with the Lions under head coach Dan Campbell, but drew high praise from him.
“I think he’s the best D-Line coach in the league,” Campbell said during last year’s NFL combine. “If he’s not, he’s certainly right up there. I think he knows how to develop. He’s got experience in game-planning and he’s going to be beneficial for our guys up front.”
While Williams is on the mend, he also stressed that he remains in regular communication with Vrabel and the rest of New England’s staff.
“Vrabes has been unbelievable. I mean, I talk to him at least once a day, and he’s he’s been unbelievably supportive in everything that we’re doing, Williams said. “We communicate every day. I want to thank the defensive staff, really, all of them … And Zak Kuhr has done an unbelievable job while I’ve been away, and we’ve communicated daily on just the things that need to get done.
“And I’ve also been in communication with the players often, so it’s been good for me. But again, I’m not away, I’m not off the football team. I’m just, I’m working remotely right now.”
For now, Kuhr will shoulder some of Williams’ responsibilities — with Kuhr also working alongside both Williams and Vrabel in Tennessee as a quality control coach and inside linebackers assistant.
“He’s an unbelievably smart guy,” Williams said of Kuhr. “You know, I remember when we hired him in Tennessee. It seems like Vrabes always put the new guys with me. So he was, he was coming, I think, from Texas State … He had been on offense, and he stuck him in there with me on the defensive line. Everybody was dumped in there with me, but I’ve grown to respect him in a short amount of time.
“I mean, we were together really, for four of those years in Tennessee, and I got the utmost respect. I think he’s going to be a superstar in this league, smart and more than anything, I think that he has the ability to connect with players. And really, that’s all of our staff.”
While Williams is looking forward to returning to Foxborough, he also echoed that listening to one’s body and keeping tabs on your health remains paramount.
“I think sometimes as, like I told the players, I mean, we all think we’re invincible. We all think we’re going to live forever,” Williams said. “We all think that this can happen to us. And when I say this, I mean anything, you know, car wreck, whatever, we think it can’t happen to us, but it can, and I think that a lot of times, when there’s things that you can prevent and you don’t prevent them, well, that’s just not being smart.
“And that’s what I’ve done over the last couple of years, even longer. It’s just, I’ve ignored doctors. I’ve ignored everyone and just kind of live my life. And while it was fun, I realized that you know what? You gotta take care of yourself, man, and that’s what I’m doing.”
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