DT Terrance Knighton, better known at Pot Roast, was a casualty of numbers during roster cuts. In Knighton’s own words, “things didn’t work out in New England, they ran a different scheme than what I’m used to, a type of technique that I’ve never played in my life. They had a few guys who were familiar with the system, and they drafted a young guy who is going to be a really good player, so things didn’t work out.”
Knighton joined Fox Sports’ Peter Schrager for a pretty interesting podcast that pulls back the curtain on the Patriots. Pot Roast talks about all three Patriots quarterbacks and what it’s like to play under head coach Bill Belichick.
On the Patriots early season success
“You know, I would be surprised if I was just on the outside looking in and I haven’t been there, but being in that building, being in those meetings, and being around those coaches, I’m not surprised at their success, and how they’re able to game plan and put players in the best position to make plays. Bill Belichick, man, he’s a genius. Just to hear the way he coaches, his philosophy on the game of football, it’s just very impressive. It’s definitely something I will take away from the team, from the short time I was there, and keep applying it to whether I’m on another team, or whether I’m coaching.”
On Jacoby Brissett
“He’s a very confident kid. I used to eat lunch with him all the time, he used to pick my brain...he’s fearless. The team will make sure they put him in the best position to make plays. They won’t put the game plan all on him. A benefit from the Tom Brady suspension thing is they’ve had all offseason to prepare Jimmy and then they’ve also prepared Jacoby just in case so he’s ready.”
On Jimmy Garoppolo
“Honestly, yeah, I’m not a quarterback evaluator, but just going off what everyone sees in preseason and practice reps and things like that, you can’t really tell what a guy’s going to do in a game. The Patriots don’t really game plan the same way in the preseason as they do in the regular season, so obviously they knew something everyone else didn’t know...the thing about the Patriots, man, is they’re the epitome of a team.”
On Bill Belichick
“Bill is just straight football. I used to see him in the weight room, he’s on the treadmill watching film. You see him in the sauna, he’s watching film. Everything’s about football, football, football. And when you do step away from football, he’s a great guy, he’s laughing, joking just like any other guy, but when it’s time to work, it’s all about football. I think he’s probably the funniest person, just being able to experience his personality, I think it’s really funny now when I see him doing interviews and stuff on TV, and obviously he hates doing it, but it’s funny now that I’ve got a different perspective.”
“We used to play this game in the locker room, we’re shooting threes, playing basketball in the locker room with a trash can, Bill would shoot a couple jump shots, even though they were terrible, it was fun. He’s a great dude, man, and on the outside looking in you would think he’s like a straight dictator, straight mean, just one way, but he’s not. He’s a great guy, it’s just when it’s about football, there’s no joking about that.”
Knighton also talked about DeflateGate as motivation for Brady, rooting for the Patriots as a hometown kid, and Rob Gronkowski’s real personality. Listen to the podcast above.