There will be no excuses for New England Patriots second-round draft pick Gabe Jacas.
As he repeatedly said after the busiest day so far for this late arrival, "All that stuff is behind me. Whatever happened in the past is the past. I'm just trying to look forward."
Contract issues, the knee procedure … Jacas is done with them. And the Patriots are throwing all they can at the 6-foot-3, 270-pound outside linebacker/pass rush specialist.
Vrabel not wasting time
"We have some time to make up. We have to make up for lost time a little bit with Gabe," said head coach Mike Vrabel. "He's working hard. He's into it. He's trying to learn. He's focused. I think a lot of things are new for him. We're off to a good start. Hopefully, he can keep adding things."
Much is being placed on Jacas, who not so coincidentally is wearing the number 50, the same number as his boss Vrabel wore here in New England from 2001-2008.
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Hungry and determined to impact
The Illinois product is ready for the challenge.
"First and foremost I'm very physical, very violent, explosive. I can set edges, and I can play in the passing game as well," Jacas said, when explaining what he brings to the field. "You're going to get the best player out of me each and every game. Anything I can do to help the team win, I'm going to do it. Whatever it takes."
Opportunity knocks for the rookie
The Patriots moved up in the second round to draft Jacas back in April. He enters off seasons of eight sacks as a junior and 11 last year in 12 games played.
New England, which lost one of its top edge rushers, K'Lavon Chaisson, to free agency, has high expectations for Jacas to help the team improve off the group's total of 36 sacks a year ago.
