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BY KEVIN DILLON
June 7, 2017
FOXBOROUGH -- Long after practice ended and even after most of the players were done with their autographs and interviews, Trey Flowers was still going.
The field was empty, but Flowers lined up against a dummy, practicing move after move for several extra minutes on what turned out to be a relatively hot day in the sun. Why did Flowers stay so late?
"Just trying to perfect my craft each and every day," Flowers said. "I watch film and see something I need to work on or see something that -- maybe the offensive line picked up on some of my tendencies, so I can kind of change 'em up or have a counter offer and just try to get better.
"It's not about being the last one on the field, it's just about perfecting my craft. If I see something wrong with it, I just continue to work."
Flowers only has so many opportunities to improve during minicamp, when there are no pads and limited contact. Still, there are ways for defensive linemen to improve during this week.
"A lot of just hand blocks," Flowers said. "You can't really power through the tackles and push them around, so you just use your hand blocks, try to work on your technique, try to work on speed around the edge, getting on the edge and work on the rush."
With Jabaal Sheard and Chris Long gone, Flowers is likely the Patriots' top pass rusher heading into the 2017 season. But while expectations are high for him regardless, no one expects more out of him than himself.
"I'm a firm believer that no one should have higher expectations for you than yourself because I'm my own worst critic and I'm going to critique myself and want the best out of myself," Flowers said. "It (doesn't) matter if it's high for everyone else, it's definitely high for me."
