Ultra Determined Bryant Back for Another Patriots Breakthrough
With NFL training camps opening this week, Myles Bryant rejoins the New England Patriots for a second season, intent on doing what he's always done on a football field.
Exceed everyone's expectations.
Without proper reward to begin each stage of his career — such as a desired scholarship offer coming out of high school or a pro draft pick once leaving college — Bryant will show up once more to demonstrate that he deserves everything that's initially been denied him and more.
The former University of Washington player is back with the Patriots for a second season as a proven commodity, and is now expected to use his versatility to shuttle between cornerback and safety assignments as an extra defender.
During New England's less than satisfactory 7-9 season in 2020, the unsung Bryant was a rare bright spot, going from undrafted free agent to developmental player for just a week to a well-used secondary member for more than half the season.
The 5-foot-8, 185-pound California native pulled nearly 200 snaps and held his own in coverage, surrendering no touchdowns while coming up with an interception of a Jared Goff pass to highlight his debut NFL season.
All of this was notably impressive for a first-year player who went without traditional offseason workouts or preseason games to play his way onto the practice squad and then the active roster.
This is almost exactly what Bryant did at the UW when as a true freshman he rotated in and out as reserve DB and then became a starter and All-Pac-12 performer, either second team or honorable mention, for his final three seasons.
All the Patriots need to do is tell this overachiever that he can't be a starter and watch him play his way into the lineup and then into a Pro Bowl at some point.
Guys like Bryant just seem to have a knack for making plays no matter who thinks otherwise. Or where it happens.
As a New England rookie, he played 66 snaps at free safety, 36 at strong safety, 31 at slot cornerback, 15 at perimeter cornerback and even 8 more coming off the defensive line.
Bill Belichick and his Patriots coaching staff learned to trust Myles Bryant. The defender also comes at a bargain rate of $780,000 and doesn't count against the team's salary cap.
They expect to use the ex-Husky as a rotational player who will only get better and maybe make it impossible to keep him out of the starting lineup.
The Patriots are expected to use 11 or 12 defensive backs on their active roster, and Bryant should be one of them.
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