When it comes to the Patriots, perhaps no one knows Trent Brown better than Dante Scarnecchia, his former offensive line coach.
Scarnecchia is now retired, but he does seem to like the Patriots trading for Brown this week.
“I like Trent. I think he’s got talent, I think he’s got immense talent,” Scarnecchia said to Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald. “I really enjoyed our time together. It definitely had some growing pains, but it was a very good time.”
Things didn't get off to the best of starts as there was some disagreements on a few things, but it didn't take long before Brown embraced the Patriots culture.
“I think what happened early on, you could just see in the way he was moving around to start practice where his mindset was, ‘I’m taking this day off,’ ’’ said Scarnecchia. “If allowed to do that, he would do it. But, we just didn’t allow him to do that. We’d tell him, ‘Hey look, this ain’t going to be the way it’s going to happen.’ It may have been said in a different tone, and not as nice as that, but once he got beyond all that, it was an absolute pleasure to be around him, and to coach him, especially the way he played for us.
“The last two-thirds of the year, and in particular in the playoffs, I think he was really exceptional in the playoffs.”
After the trade this week, Brown posted to social media indicating he loves it in New England.
Scarnecchia also said Brown raises his game when blocking some of the best edge rushers in the game.
“I think he can be a guy that you can run behind. He can make the tough blocks on the back side, and he’s a really good pass-blocker for multiple reasons,” he said.
“He’s so big, and he’s so long. He’s just a big guy to run around, and he’s really a hard guy to rush through. And, I think he loves challenges. The better the players, the more attention he pays. He really gets into it.”
It remains to be seen which side of the line Brown plays as he was the left tackle during his one year in New England, but with the Raiders played right tackle.
