Tag: Mack Wilson

Mack Wilson faith in Mac Jones long before he broke out at Alabama

Mack Wilson has known Mac Jones since when he was at the bottom of the Alabama depth chart.

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Newly-minted New England Patriots linebacker Mack Wilson has known Mac Jones since the quarterback was at the bottom of the Alabama depth chart. Wilson was at Alabama when Jones worked below quarterbacks Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa — both starters in the NFL. Finally in 2020, Jones got his shot — and wowed with one of the most efficient passing seasons in college football history while helping Alabama win a national championship.

Even when Jones was buried on the Alabama depth chart, Wilson had faith in Jones. In their early years together, Mack 1 and Mac 2 — nicknames courtesy of Wilson — became good friends under coach Nick Saban, whose program has fueled the Patriots dynasties for a decade. Wilson, who joined the Patriots in a trade this offseason, was asked about his relationship with Jones.

“I remember Mac when he was a pup,” Wilson said Tuesday. “Just seeing how much he grew as a person and a player, it amazed me. I was telling everybody back home, friends and family, ‘Mac Jones is going to be special.’ A lot of guys didn’t believe me. Even some of the guys that were on our team didn’t believe me. I just saw something in him that just made me like: ‘Hey, this kid is going to be special.’

“I used to always tell him, ‘Just stay working, man. Stay patient. Your time will come.’ And that’s what he did and obviously the rest was history.”

Of course, Wilson made sure to note he’d intercepted the quarterback a few times at practice. And now that they’re teammates again, it’s easy to imagine Wilson may get his hands on another Jones pass in the coming practices — but maybe not as many as he used to. Jones has come a long way since then.

“You know a lot of guys come in as freshmen all uptight. Mac, he just had swagger,” Wilson said. “That’s something that caught my eye. He made some big plays. He made some great throws. Even when he scrambled he had a little juice in him. It was just different little small things that I’ve seen that made me like, hey, I like Mac. He’s going to be good. I believed in it and obviously it’s coming true.”

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Mac Jones welcomes former Alabama teammate Mack Wilson to Patriots

The Patriots’ roots with Alabama players continue to get stronger.

Bill Belichick continues to build the New England Patriots’ roster with former Alabama Crimson Tide players.

The Patriots drafted Mac Jones and Christian Barmore last year, while having Damien Harris, Dont’a Hightower and Anfernee Jennings on the roster. On Tuesday, the Patriots traded Chase Winovich to the Cleveland Browns for former Alabama linebacker Mack Wilson.

Wilson, 24, is an off-the-ball linebacker that brings speed to a position that lacked it in 2021. The Patriots released Kyle Van Noy and could potentially lose Hightower, Ja’Whaun Bentley and/or Jamie Collins in free agency. Wilson adds much-needed depth and is a player that fits the mold of what the Patriots want at linebacker going forward.

He gained a warm welcome from his former teammate, Jones.

The Patriots are handicapped financially and haven’t made any big splashes in free agency yet.

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6 things to know about new Patriots LB Mack Wilson

What went wrong for Mack Wilson in Cleveland? And what can he bring to the Patriots?

The New England Patriots have a new inside linebacker: Mack Wilson. The team acquired him in a trade that sent outside linebacker Chase Winovich to the Cleveland Browns, according to multiple reports.

Wilson and Winovich were in similar situations on their respective teams. Both had promising starts to their career. Both players descended the depth chart steadily behind younger players or more established ones. And they struggled more and more to shine. So they’ll change the scenery and work with a new team that’s more likely to need them for a bigger role.

Wilson will jump into a Patriots linebacker group that badly needs youth and help.

Chase Winovich says goodbye to Patriots following trade to Browns

“The love, spirit, and support has been absolutely unreal.”

After three seasons, Chase Winovich is no longer with the New England Patriots.

The edge rusher was traded to the Cleveland Browns on Tuesday for linebacker Mack Wilson. Winovich had a solid start his rookie year with the Patriots, but he only played 10.5% of snaps in his third year due to the depth on the edge. Regardless, he always kept a positive attitude and that was reflected in his goodbye tweet following the trade.

“I am so grateful for my experience in New England,” Winovich wrote. “The love, spirit, and support have been absolutely unreal. This entire region will always hold the most special of places in my heart. The time is now for the next chapter of my journey.”

The Patriots needed depth and speed with off-the-ball linebackers and Wilson brings just that. New England traded Winovich for a player at a different position, but it’s something the Patriots are focused on — especially with the potential losses through free agency.

As for Winovich — he showed flashes of great productivity and he could certainly find himself in a much more prominent role in Cleveland.

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Trade! Browns agree to trade Mack Wilson for Chase Winovich

An interesting move that could help replace McKinley, Browns agree to another trade this time using Mack Wilson to get a defensive end to rush the passer:

The Cleveland Browns have made a couple of moves already in the last few days, or at least agreed to them, but with the Deshaun Watson interest lingering, Andrew Berry hasn’t been as busy as he normally is. So far:

Cleveland still has a number of needs including adding another wide receiver and along the defensive line where Myles Garrett is the lone proven starter even with Bryan’s addition.

The team does have some depth at positions on the defense including cornerback and linebacker. From that linebacker depth, the Browns have reportedly agreed to another trade:

Wilson has been an up and down player for Cleveland but excelled on special teams last year.

Winovich is going into his fourth season after being selected by the New England Patriots in the third round out of Michigan. The hybrid linebacker/defensive end has started nine games for the Patriots and has 11 sacks to his name but none last season.

With both in the last year of their contracts, a change of scenery and roles may be helpful for both players. For Cleveland, Winovich will probably step in at defensive end to help replace Takk McKinley, who is a free agent and will probably miss most of the year with an Achilles injury.

The Browns still likely need to find a replacement, whether a veteran or in the NFL draft, to replace Jadeveon Clowney but Winovich can be an important part of the rotation on the defensive line.

Report: Patriots trading OLB Chase Winovich to Browns for LB Mack Wilson

A swap of linebackers and — surprise, surprise — Mack Wilson is an Alabama product.

The New England Patriots intend to trade outside linebacker Chase Winovich to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for linebacker Mack Wilson, according to multiple reports.

Wilson is a potential replacement for inside linebacker Dont’a Hightower and Ja’Whaun Bentley, both pending free agents. A former fifth-round pick out of Alabama, Wilson showed plenty of potential in his rookie season in 2019 when he had 82 tackles,  seven pass breakups, one interception and a forced fumble. He didn’t play quiet as much, however, in 2020 and 2021 — and his production suffered. It seems the Patriots feel they can get the most out of him as he joins an inside linebacker group that includes Raekwon McMillan, Cam McGrone and Terez Hall.

more to come

Browns Mack Wilson to miss MNF due to personal matter

Wilson will miss the game due to an undisclosed personal matter. Two other linebackers are still on the COVID list:

The Cleveland Browns will not have LB Mack Wilson for the team’s Monday Night Football matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers, according to the team. Wilson did not make the trip with the team for the game due to a personal matter.

The team did not disclose the extent of the personal matter Sunday.

Wilson has been a key special teams contributor for the team much of the year. For the season, Wilson has contributed 40 tackles to the team.

With Tony Fields II and Elijah Lee still on the reserve/COVID-19 list, the Browns could be very thin at the linebacker spot as well as special teams.

A former fifth-round pick out of Alabama, Wilson has nine pass deflections, five tackles for loss, two quarterback hits and one each of interceptions and forced fumbles for his career. Wilson has one year left on his rookie contract.

We will update Wilson’s situation if new information becomes available.

Mack Wilson shoulder injury minor, likely to return in few days

The news for Wilson is good but he will need to return as soon as possible. Hopefully, this issue doesn’t linger as his knee problem did in 2020.

The Cleveland Browns dominated the Jacksonville Jaguars in the opening preseason game but came away with two injuries. Stephen Carlson and Mack Wilson both left the game early and head coach Kevin Stefanski did not have updates when he spoke to the media on Sunday.

Since Stefanski’s comments, we have learned that Carlson is likely to miss the rest of the season due to a knee injury.

Wilson has been one of the highlights of the team’s training camp so far. Competing with newcomers Anthony Walker and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah along with holdovers Jacob Phillips, Malcolm Smith and Sione Takitaki, Wilson’s path to a roster spot is up in the air.

Last year, Wilson had a knee injury that had him pondering retirement. The shoulder injury suffered Saturday night is reportedly not as serious, as first reported by Brad Stainbrook:

 

Since the initial report, it looks as if Wilson has sprained his AC joint specifically.

With Owusu-Koramoah having a great game against the Jaguars and Walker likely returning to team drills throughout the week, Wilson will need to return as soon as possible. It will also be important to Wilson that his shoulder problem doesn’t linger like his knee issue did last year.

Mack Wilson pondered retirement in 2020 due to injury limiting him

Wilson struggled mightily on the field last year and shared his struggles with his knee causing him to think about being done playing.

After a day off, the Cleveland Browns are back at it in training camp on Friday. While not getting a lot of attention, compared to a number of other storylines around the team, the linebacker competition is interesting with Mack Wilson inserting himself into the conversation during the first week of camp.

With Anthony Walker out for more than a week and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah missing the start of camp on the COVID-19 list, Wilson has had a chance to shine. With the two newcomers sidelined, Jacob Phillips, Malcolm Smith and Wilson get more chances to fight for a starting spot and, in the end, a roster spot.

Wilson has been a polarizing figure with the Browns. A highly recruited, five-star athlete, the linebacker made plays during his college days at Alabama but fell to Cleveland in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL draft.

In his two years in the league, Wilson has graded poorly by Pro Football Focus’ standards. Last year, in just over 400 snaps he had an overall grade of 41.9, good for third-worst on the defense.

Speaking to the media today, Wilson shared that his knee problem caused him to ponder retirement:

 

Wilson has reported to camp healthy and in good shape. His play on the field in camp has been markedly improved, likely due to a healthy knee. Whether or not he makes the roster is still to be determined but Wilson’s struggles last year clearly weighed on him.

Can Mack Wilson benefit from Tony Field’s injury?

Can Wilson grab a roster spot by spending more time in an area that he hasn’t in the past?

The Cleveland Browns had a lot of positive news going into the first day of training camp but one piece of bad news with the Tony Fields II foot injury. Could Mack Wilson be the benefactor of that injury?

The NFL is a cutthroat business in a lot of ways. When one player gets injured, another must step up. It is especially this way during practices where, often, if an injury happens a team just moves the practice 10 yards up the field and keeps it going while trainers deal with the injured.

While we don’t have any official word on the Fields injury, there is concern that it could be serious. This is Fields’ second foot injury with both feet now being impacted in some way. For a player who wins with speed, problems with his feet could have a lingering impact.

For Wilson, who is fighting for his roster spot, Fields’ injury gives him one less competitor early in camp. Even if Fields is able to return in a week or two, Wilson will have ample time to prove he can take a role in 2021.

For the former fifth-round pick, the 2020 season did not go well. Wilson had the third-worst PFF defensive grade on a bad Browns defense, just a little better than Sheldrick Redwine and Jacob Phillips.

Where Wilson could fight for a roster spot in Fields’ absence is someplace he hasn’t played much in the NFL: Special teams. As a rookie, the Alabama product had 127 snaps on special teams with a majority of them coming on opponents’ field goal attempts. Last year, he only had three special teams snaps.

Yet, special teams is an important role for backup linebackers. Cleveland is looking to replace the 249 snaps taken there by Tae Davis who left in free agency. The Browns also have to replace their best special teamer, Tavierre Thomas, and his 378 snaps.

Two other linebackers had far more experience on special teams last year and could have an advantage of Wilson there. Sione Taktaki had 241 snaps spread almost evenly among the different units while Elijah Lee had 189 mostly on punt and kickoff teams.

With Malcolm Smith, Anthony Walker, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Jacob Phillips fighting for starting spots on the defense, special teams may be the key for Wilson to make the 53-man roster. Fields, with his speed, was expected to play an important role there. His injury could give the oft-maligned Crimson Tide ‘backer a chance to steal a role there despite his limited experience.