The New England Patriots head coach was asked Friday about coaching against Chiefs Hall of Famer Derrick Thomas. He remember a great edge rusher and difference maker on the field:
"Fast. If he beat you off the edge it was all over, and he beat a lot of guys off the edge. He did a good job of anticipating the snap count. He had a great first step, could bend, could get underneath sometimes the tackle’s punch. He was a great edge rusher, period. Probably as good of one-step quickness as, like Von Miller or guys like that that could really win on one step and then it was all over. If they didn’t win on their first step then you had to deal with their counter moves and all of that, but a lot of times they would just – again, that was back in the day where the rules were a little bit different than what they were. Defensive linemen flinched and things like that. They’ve changed that rule since then, but in Kansas City they were pretty good at that. The crowd noise was intense. A lot of times those tackles or tight ends, whoever it was, were late out of their stance or just a split-second late and he was by them. I remember when he came to Cleveland you couldn’t run on that field. It was like a different player."
