NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Isaiah Wynn is getting closer.
The New England Patriots 2018 first-round pick missed all of last season after suffering a torn Achilles in the preseason. This week, however, Wynn is practicing more, protecting Tom Brady and taking on more contact than we’ve seen since before last summer’s injury.
Wynn’s rise is a good sign for Brady, who will have a new starting left tackle for the third-straight season. On Wednesday, the second-year player said he thinks he can be ready to start in Week 1.
“Would I be prepared? Yeah, I’m working out here every day to get prepared for that,” Wynn said. “Whatever they need me for, I’m here for.”
The Patriots made Wynn their first pick at 23rd overall last year. He was the pick the Patriots acquired for Brandin Cooks. Although undersized at 6-foot-3, Wynn plays with solid technique. Last summer, he was starting to put together a good training camp when the injury happened in the team’s second preseason game.
Wynn stuck around the team all season, waiting and learning from a far. This offseason, the Patriots have taken their time with the 23-year-old from Georgia. It’s been a slow build, but Wynn is finally taking part in the contact portion of practices.
On Wednesday, he was involved in 1-on-1 sessions in a joint practice with the Tennessee Titans. When full-team drills started, Wynn was the left tackle. By the second rep, Dan Skipper, who has been filling in at left tackle, rotated in. Wynn said he was eager to take on some contact and he’s happy where his health is, confirming that he’s practicing because he’s close to 100 percent.
“I’m pretty good with my progress with how I’m coming along, but of course I’m just working to get better,” Wynn said. “There’s plenty of things I could work on to better myself every single day. That’s what I’m doing, just trying to perfect my craft so I can help out the team in any way they need me.”
PATRIOTS ROOKIES surprised Titans Coach Mike Vrabel at the start of their joint practice by serenading him for his 44th birthday.
Vrabel knows who likely instigated the singing.
“That was something that was unexpected but very appreciated,” Vrabel said. “It was a good idea by whoever came up with it. Probably Tom or Bill.”
That would be either former teammate Tom Brady or Bill Belichick, the coach Vrabel won three Super Bowl rings with as a linebacker during his 14-year career. Now Vrabel is in his second season as Tennessee’s head coach, and hosting Belichick and the Patriots for two days of practices before Saturday night’s preseason game.
This session featured lots of trash talking and felt much more like a family reunion than an NFL training camp, with all the ties between these franchises.
Vrabel started the talk as soon as Brady came onto the field, yelling at the three-time NFL MVP for walking and not jogging onto the field. Brady told Vrabel to pay attention to his own work in just the start of the barking between teams with lots of ties and former players now on the other roster.
The Titans coach stayed close to his defense working against Brady, all the better for the two to chirp at each other.
“It brought back a lot of memories just to be able to sit out there, and they make a play and he turns around and says, ‘Mikey you better cover that, you guys need to do this.’ I’m sure I had plenty to say, too,” Vrabel said of Brady. “It was a lot of fun. We have a lot of respect for those guys. We can learn a lot from the way they practice and how they operate.”
Cornerbacks Logan Ryan and Malcolm Butler and running back Dion Lewis won Super Bowl rings with the Patriots before signing with Tennessee as free agents. Patriots cornerback Jason McCourty never played in the postseason through eight years with the Titans before finally joining his twin brother, Devin, in the New England secondary last season.
Ryan jumped up trying to knock down a Brady pass from his old teammate, only to get knocked down by Patriots right tackle Marcus Cannon.
“It’s all good,” Ryan said. “We’re competing. Tom said that he’ll know every time I’m blitzing because he knows my mannerisms. I think I tricked him on one.”
Brady got the better of a Titans’ defense that was sixth against the pass and third in fewest points allowed. Ryan said Brady dominates in a practice setting where defenders can’t use all their tricks.
“When you’re on top, he’s going to throw it low,” Ryan said. “You’re in front, he’s going to throw it behind. I mean, if you can’t get pressure on him and sack him like we can’t do in practice, he’s going to be pretty accurate. But we just want to be on body and we want to be close and challenge those receivers.”
The Titans made clear they want to create their own version of the Patriot Way when General Manager Jon Robinson, who got his NFL start with the Patriots, hired Vrabel as their new coach in January 2018.
Vrabel and the Titans routed Belichick and the Patriots 34-10 last November. But the Patriots finished the season with their sixth Super Bowl title, while Tennessee just missed the playoffs, losing the regular-season finale.
Belichick said Vrabel’s been a friend for a long time and did a great job against the Patriots last season.
“We really got handled down here,” Belichick said. “He’s got an excellent staff, and I’m sure that he’s teaching these guys a lot of football. He was really smart player, a very fundamental player, so I’m sure that you can see those strengths in the way he coaches his team.”
THE PATRIOTS suffered another setback to their wide receiver corps when Phillip Dorsett left practice early because of an apparent injury.
Dorsett went down hard after making a catch on the sideline and later walked off the field slowly with trainer Jim Whalen.
The Dorsett injury adds to an already problematic list of injuries at the receiver position. The Patriots have been without Julian Edelman all preseason as he recovers from an offseason finger injury. First-round pick N’Keal Harry hasn’t practiced since he appeared to injure his leg against the Detroit Lions in the preseason opener, and veteran wide receiver Demaryius Thomas remains on the PUP list as he comes off an Achilles injury from last season.
AFTER BEING cut by the Patriots on Tuesday, quarterback-turned-receiver Danny Etling has landed with the Atlanta Falcons, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
The Patriots waived Etling to open a roster spot for tight end Eric Saubert, who they acquired from Atlanta.
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