A punch-in nose: Vince Wilfork still at work

FOXBORO - After club director of player personnel Nick Caserio spoke Thursday of ongoing contract talks with Vince Wilfork [stats], the Patriots [team stats] nose tackle wouldn’t say yesterday if the negotiations were progressing or if they had hit a snag.

The big guy is not talking about his contract status these days.

“Right now, that’s something I’m (not) concerned about,” Wilfork said. “The only thing I’m concerned about is getting better as a football player and playing football. I’ll let those (guys) handle what they have to handle off the field. Right now, my focus is football, and football only.”

So instead of bemoaning the lack of a contract extension, Wilfork spoke enthusiastically about the acquisition of defensive end Derrick Burgess, whose play he loves, as well as the birth of the newest member of the Wilfork family.

On Thursday, Vince and wife Bianca welcomed their third child, David, who was named in memory of Wilfork’s father.

So, another nose tackle is about to be groomed?

“No, he’s going to be a golfer,” Wilfork said, laughing. “I’m going to start him early, have him stay away from football.”

Wilfork, who is in the final season of the six-year deal he signed as a rookie, said putting the contract aside and letting his agent handle whatever might pop up has helped him focus and take the proper approach to training camp.

It’s allowed him to just play football.

“That’s how it’s going to be until I say otherwise,” he said. “But it will not affect the way I prepare and what I do on the field.

“You have to be able to separate business from your profession and what you’re doing. You know me, I love football, so I’m going to play football. Everything else will take care of itself.”

A Herald column by Ron Borges on Sunday cited a source claiming Wilfork would be gone if he reached free agency.

When asked yesterday if he realized how much fans wanted him back, Wilfork smiled.

“I want to be here. There’s no question in my mind that I don’t want go anywhere, but it’s a business. Things happen,” said Wilfork, who will make $2.2 million this season. “Every year, people move to different teams. I’m pretty sure sometimes people want to go, and sometimes they don’t want to go. So, in my case, I don’t want to go anywhere. I want to stay around here for a long time. I want to end my career here.

“We’ll see happens, but that’s something I’m not even concerning myself with right now. My thing is getting up every day, coming to work. Until they say it’s over, it’s not going to change the way I come out and prepare. I’m not going to let anyone down in that locker room. They know the situation. It’s in the papers, it’s on the news. They know I’m in my final year. They also know when I step on this football field and strap it on, it’s time to go to work. They know they can trust me. And I expect the same thing out of them.”



(bostonherald.com)