For Chase Winovich, the Patriots' third-round pick of a year ago, it was a fairly successful rookie season.
The edge rusher played in all 16 games and finished with 26 tackles, 5.5 sacks and added a fumble recovery. The Michigan product was not an every down player, but did a solid job filling the role he was asked to have.
Winovich reflected on his rookie season via Patriots.com where he admitted it was challenging in a way.
"It was challenging is the best way I can put it, just in a different way," he said. "Just the competition's really high and there's the amount of information and just the learning curve that comes with the transition is inevitable. And I'm just fortunate that I had a great cast of teammates and coaches just surrounding me and constantly providing insight and guidance so they could help to make it as smooth as possible.
"I tried to compartmentalize each thing of my life and just break it down. When I got to the Patriots, I realized, especially going through training camp, I didn't feel like it was quite enough. So I kind of went on a quest to ready myself and improve."
With a year under his belt, Winovich has realized the biggest thing when it comes to being a successful player in the league is consistency.
"What separates the best players from good players in the NFL, from what I've seen so far, is not the ability to make good plays because everybody can make some solid plays. It's just being able to consistently do that," he said. "Time and time again on different opponents."
With the departure of Kyle Van Noy and other members of the defense, Winovich could have a bigger role in Year 2 while also helping rookies Josh Uche and Anfernee Jennings with their developments.
