After Ohio State's defensive backs and defensive linemen went through their group workouts at the Buckeyes' pro day on Thursday, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick decided he wanted to take a closer look at each group of players in a variety of different drills.
So after each of those position groups finished their main set of on-field drills at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Thursday, Belichick called them aside to a different area of the field, where he and Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia – Belichick's former defensive coordinator in New England – led those groups through a variety of additional drills, giving 10 of the Buckeyes' 2018 NFL draft hopefuls an opportunity to learn directly from a five-time Super Bowl-winning head coach.
Belichick and Patricia held their workout with Ohio State defensive backs Damon Webb, Erick Smith, Denzel Ward, Trevon Forte and Elijaah Goins right in front of the media viewing area – with Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio throwing passes for the defensive backs to catch – and you can watch that workout in the video above.
Prior to that, Belichick and Patricia also conducted a workout with Ohio State defensive linemen Sam Hubbard, Tyquan Lewis, Jalyn Holmes, Tracy Sprinkle and Michael Hill. While the media didn't have as good a viewing angle for that workout, you can see a portion of that workout – which also former Michigan head coach and current Carolina Panthers defensive line coach Brady Hoke holding one of the dummies – in the video below.
Sprinkle said after the workout that it was a "blessing" to have the opportunity to learn directly from Belichick.
"That's one of the greatest coaches of all-time, so to be out there working with him ... we was out there getting coached on different techniques, and we went out there and I think we did good work today," Sprinkle said.
Stay tuned with Eleven Warriors for continued coverage from Thursday's pro day.
