New England Patriots: Patrick Chung has recovered from Philadelphia woes

Following a low point in Philadelphia, Patrick Chung has improved with the New England Patriots.

The New England Patriots defensive backs are about as deep as they’ve ever been. An integral part of that dynamic group is safety Patrick Chung. As a second-round draft pick in 2009, he wanted to justify his spot on the roster.

”I’m going to work hard every day,” Chung said after he was drafted, courtesy of The Sun Chronicle. “Weight room, film room, practice field, everything. Hopefully I’ll get the chance to get on the field and make an impact. Hopefully, Coach (Bill Belichick) will give me the opportunity, and if I do, I’ll take full advantage.”

He didn’t get a lot of playing time in his rookie year — starting only one game — but managed to be productive while on the field, recording two sacks and an interception. Unleashing his physical prowess in 2010, Chung saw his role increase and finished the season with 96 combined tackles, the second-best sum on the team.

Such a huge jump in productivity didn’t foretell his next two seasons in New England. Hampered by a foot injury in 2011, Chung dealt with hamstring and shoulder issues in 2012, a contract year. When he did play, he struggled to protect deeper zones in schemes like Cover 2.

Belichick let him walk, and Chung signed a three-year, $10 million deal with the Philadelphia Eagles. Still, he couldn’t function as a deep cover man. The Eagles secondary in 2013 looked poor as a whole and allowed the most touchdowns passes in the league, per ESPN. When Chung was released after appearing in just 12 games for his former college coach, Chip Kelly, who was there to give him another chance? Belichick, of course.

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“Hopefully, I can stay here a couple more years, but you know, I learned the grass is not always greener,” Chung said via The Boston Globe in October 2014.

Alongside Devin McCourty, the 215-pound defensive back took his performances to new heights. He collected 261 combined tackles from 2014-16. In the first two years of of that run, 17 pass deflections marked his career-high tally over a two-year span.

It seems Belichick, realizing that Chung’s vertical recovery speed was one of his weaknesses, used the safety’s most positive asset: his physicality.

Despite lacking height, he has the toughness to cover and tackle tight ends. That’s ideal, given that  tight ends don’t challenge him down the field as much as fleet-footed receivers do. Falcons tight end Austin Hooper beat Chung on a 19-yard touchdown pass in Super Bowl LI, but the Patriots veteran broke up a crucial toss in the third quarter and thwarted the running backs in Atlanta’s passing game. This competitive resiliency has bolstered his value. 

Putting Chung in the slot, coaches can expect him to limit yards after the catch in short-yardage situations. In 2016, Pro Football Focus noted that Chung played 147 snaps in the slot, a position where he stood firm to give up a 88.7 passer rating when targeted, despite ranking low in overall grade.

“To be able to do it at the level he’s done it at consistently, we’ve seen a lot of good tight ends,” Belichick said, courtesy of NESN.

“He’s out there against pretty good guys every week, not to mention practice. To be able to play at that level without having to help a guy on every play — yeah. I wouldn’t say the versatility is as big of a deal as the high level of versatility. There’s a lot of guys who can go out there and take up space, but they really can’t perform against that level of competition the way you need it.”

While cornerbacks Stephon Gilmore, Malcolm Butler and Eric Rowe make for an assertive trio, the presence of Chung remains noticeable. Rich Hill of Pats Pulpit wrote that the Jamaican-born man is the most irreplaceable player on the team. That belief may be a stretch, though the Patriots can’t get that sort of versatility from many defensive backs in the NFL.

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The Patriots’ defense is definitely worse without Chung. At the conclusion of his 2018 campaign, his contract runs out. Until then, expect to see a significant impact from the burly bruiser.