FOXBOROUGH — The Patriots may have dropped their season opener to the Raiders, but Harold Landry III left Gillette Stadium feeling good about what New England’s defense could become.
“I felt like you could see the glimpse of dominance that our defense has,” Landry said.
After allowing an opening drive touchdown, Mike Vrabel’s group settled in a bit, keeping the Raiders off the scoreboard for the rest of the half. Ultimately, the Patriots fell 20-13, but Landry (2.5 sacks) liked a lot of what he saw.
“We all know on the defensive side of the ball, the sky’s the limit for us,” Landry said. “I think for us it’s just that consistency snapping in and snapping out and not having any lapses. You can easily tell that we have so much potential on that side of the ball.
“We just have to come to work, leaders have to lead, and we just have to come to work tomorrow ready to improve, hungry to improve. You can see it, this is an exciting defense, I’m excited to be a part of it. Like I said, we just have to be more consistent, snap in, snap out, have no lapses.”
New England’s run defense (56 yards) was far better than its pass defense (333 yards), but they were without their best player Christian Gonzalez. Landry, who played for Vrabel in Tennessee, knows what to expect as the Patriots turn the page to Week 2.
“It’s going to be to come in, be ready to work, make the corrections. You have to be hungry to improve,” Landry said. “It’s Week 1. Nobody’s going to be talking about this week in a couple weeks, you got to be ready to make the corrections, be critical of yourself, and find ways to improve. Find a way to be more consistent, Vrabes isn’t going to change, he knows what it takes to win in this league, and he knows that the guys just got to come in here ready to work.”
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