Lamar Miller picked the New England Patriots in free agency because of some of the similarities between their offense and the one the Houston Texans run. Bill O’Brien, a former Patriots offensive coordinator, featured Miller heavily in that Texans offense.
But Miller’s first impressions of the Patriots were about the obvious differences between New England and the other franchises where he’s worked in Houston and Miami.
“It’s been different for me,” Miller told reporters on a videoconference call on Tuesday. “I’ve been in the league for eight years, and you can see why they’re the winning organization that they were. They do a lot of things differently. I’m happy to be a part of it.”
The fact that the Patriots are a “winning organization” was a big appeal for Miller, who was 3-9 in his career against New England. During the regular season, he averaged 3.9 yards per attempt against the Patriots. In his lone playoff game against New England, a 34-16 Texans’ loss, he had 19 carries for 74 yards with four catches for 15 yards.
But these differences between the Patriots and past organizations haven’t made for an easiest adjustment phase for Miller, who was asked what moment he realized New England wasn’t like other franchises.
“I would say the conditioning part,” Miller said. “Since I’ve been in the league, I’d never ran that much. It was just different for me. They make sure that you’re in top, great shape. That’s something that I haven’t experienced. So coming in here, once they put me in the conditioning stuff, that was something that was different for me.”
Miller, who started the season on the physically unable to perform list, got on the field for his first Patriots practice on Monday. He said he’s feeling great after recovering from ACL and MCL tears last offseason. He’ll be in competition for the top running back job against Damien Harris, Sony Michel, James White, Rex Burkhead and undrafted rookie J.J. Taylor.
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