FOXBORO — You often hear NFL players speak about the importance of “mental reps.” Apparently, they’re useful for coaches, too.
To prepare for his first season as a defensive play-caller, DeMarcus Covington would set up a TV in his backyard, turn on a recording of a game and call the defense in real time, as if he was standing on the sideline with a headset.
“I called games all throughout the summer,” the Patriots assistant said Thursday. “Sat there in my backyard. Sit there and put on a game, live game, and call the game. So this isn’t my first game calling it.”
He added: “(It’s) just like a live game. You’ve got it on there, you know the down and distance, you know the personnel, you make a call. And whatever happens, now you react to it. It’s something you can do defensively that’s a pretty good deal for us as a staff. … For me, it’s getting those reps.”
Covington, who was promoted from D-line coach to DC after Jerod Mayo was hired as head coach, also has some more practical play-calling experience to draw from, albeit none in a true game setting. He served as a defensive coordinator in the Senior Bowl last offseason. In training camp this summer, he’d design some team periods to be intentionally unscripted to force him to think on his feet.
“I’ve tried to prepare (for) that already in the spring, in training camp,” the 35-year-old said. “Go out there and not script plays and go out there and call it like it’s a game and then make the mistakes. Like, our players are out there practicing, they’re out there getting their reps, so I’m getting my reps, too. …
“It’s easy for me to just sit in a room and say, ‘Hey, this is going to be the play.’ That’s easy to go out there and not put yourself under pressure. So (I wanted to) do it in practice, make it harder on myself in practice so it would be easier in the game.”
Nothing can truly prepare a player or coach for the pressure of an NFL Sunday, however, and Covington’s first real test will be a tough one. The Patriots will open their 2024 season against a talented Bengals offense that features one of the league’s top quarterbacks (Joe Burrow) and two premier receivers (Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins).
Nervous? No way, he said.
“I’ve always dreamed of doing this,” said Covington, who interviewed for DC jobs with the Cardinals and Chargers in 2023. “So we’re here now, it’s not like, ‘Oh (expletive), what’s going to happen?’ No. I’ve been dreaming on this. I’ve been waiting on this.”