FOXBORO — Last week, the Patriots claimed veteran pass rusher Yannick Ngakoue off waivers.
Ngakoue did not play in the team’s win at Chicago, but said Wednesday he plans to help the Pats build on that performance and start a winning streak.
“I’m excited, happy for the opportunity,” Ngakoue told reporters. “You know, we just won a game last week versus the Bears, so (I) just want to help build on that energy and that momentum so we can continue it for the following week.”
A nine-year veteran, Ngakoue received his release from Baltimore last Thursday after minimal production five game appearances. Ngakoue has 70.5 sacks over his career, but just one season with double-digit sacks over the past six years. He also tallied 9.5 sacks in 2022 and 2018.
Ngakoue, now on his seventh team in nine years, said he didn’t mind moving from a 7-3 Ravens squad to a 3-7 Patriots team. He believes he can make enough of a difference to help change the course of the program, having played for a three-win Jaguars team as a rookie, then come a few plays shy of the Super Bowl the following year.
“It doesn’t matter to me. Where I was drafted, it was a team that didn’t win a lot. The next year we were in the AFC Championship. It’s all about the perspective,” Ngakoue said. “It’s all about how you can build team camaraderie and change those things.”
Ngakoue is now arguably the Patriots’ second-best pass rusher behind defensive lineman Keion White, and inarguably their most proven. He projects to fill a pass-rushing specialist role once filled by Joshua Uche, though Pats coach Jerod Mayo believes Ngakoue can be a three-down player.
Ngakoue spent the first four seasons of his career with the Jaguars, who selected him in the third round of the 2016 draft and later traded him to Minnesota midway through the 2020 season. Ngakoue later sandwiched one-year stops in Las Vegas, Indianapolis and Chicago with two separate stints in Baltimore. Ngakoue said he was familiar with Patriots linebackers Ja’Whaun Bentley and Joe Giles-Harris before arriving in New England, and heard positive reviews about his new head coach.
“You know, just reaching out to players that know him and the way he coaches, he’s a great coach,” Ngakoue said of Mayo. “He’s definitely a guy that people cling to, definitely a guy that people want to be led (by). So I’m just happy and excited to be with him. He’s a former player, so he knows what we go through.”
Mayo told Ngakoue he wants him to be a leader in the locker room.
“Just help build the culture, help provide on all three downs and just play fast and physical,” Ngakoue said.
The 29-year-old spent the first half of his career playing in the shadow the Patriots cast over the AFC during the end of their dynasty. While he said he hasn’t discussed a long-term future in New England with team brass, Ngakoue wants to help the Patriots loom large again.
“Great tradition, Super Bowl-winning team,” he said of the franchise. “We’ve just got to bring that culture back. That’s it.”