Shaun Wade Shares Intricate Details About Patriots, Recalls Mac Jones Beating Cam Newton's 7-On-7 Team
BOSTON (CBS) -- "The Patriot Way" is a saying that nobody's ever really been able to define. It's been used by pundits and commentators and even some players over the years, but it's always been a bit of a vague term.
Still, when new players enter the Patriots' system, they sometimes offer a fresh perspective on "The Patriot Way." On Thursday afternoon, it was rookie cornerback Shaun Wade who was casting some light on the way the Patriots do business.
A fifth-round pick out of Ohio State in this year's draft, Wade was traded by the Ravens to the Patriots in late August. On Thursday, he shared what's stood out the most about the differences between the Ravens' operation and the way the Patriots do business.
For Wade, the biggest difference is in the weight room.
"Here we do a lot of legs. In Baltimore, they do a lot of single legs, single arms and stuff like that. Here you do a lot of legs, you bench, and things like that. But every day is definitely a leg day here. I see they really want to work on your explosion here. That's the number one thing," Wade said. "Practice-wise, it's kind of the same, because you've got a lot of guys that are vets and they're very intense. It's just probably harder in Baltimore, that'll be the little difference. Meeting-wise, it's probably the same. But lifting is probably the most difficult thing in the playbook, because it's a different language."
While Wade has now been in the Patriots' system for a few weeks, he admitted that the initial transition was not easy.
"Oh yeah, that adjustment, I'm not gonna lie, is very, very hard. Just going to Baltimore, learning their defense and how they play, how they practice, and coming here, it's a totally different atmosphere. They practice different, they lift different here, the coaches are different here, the system is different here," Wade said. "So it's just something I have to adjust to, and that's a part of life. So you gotta adjust in life, and it's just something I gotta adjust to. And to get to where I want in my goals, I had to adjust."
Despite the challenges, Wade was excited to join an organization with a history of winning.
"You win here. And I'm a winner," Wade said. "I won four state championships, a little league national championship, Big 10 championships, so I'm a winner, and that's all I care about, is winning. So I'm on a winning program, and right now, all I care about is winning."
Wade said that the veterans in the defensive backfield have helped catch him up to speed since joining the team. He also was friendly with Mac Jones, with whom he played 7-on-7 while growing up in the Jacksonville area. Wade said that he and Jones beat a team coached by Cam Newton, and the Jones in New England is the same Jones that Wade saw many years ago.
"Mac is the same Mac as he is today," Wade said. "I feel like 7-on-7, playing with us, he got that grit. Just how he acts right now, I feel like that came from kind of 7-on-7, playing with us. Mac's the same person. We used to play Cam Newton's team. I remember Mac talking junk. I think he threw a winning touchdown that game and stuff like that. So Mac's always been the same person. A lot of people doubted him when he was younger, saying do not go to 'Bama. But you see what he did -- he's one of the best, I feel like, to come out of 'Bama, in my opinion. I always believe in Mac."
Wade recalled that the win over Cam Newton's team came when he was in 10th grade. The rookie was asked if he brought up that memorable victory upon meeting Newton in the Patriots' locker room.
"I did, I told him," Wade said with a laugh. "I told him."