FOXBORO Two-time All-Pro safety Kevin Byard was one of Mike Vrabel’s most successful players during his six seasons as Tennessee’s head coach.
Vrabel sees a lot of Byard in tight end Hunter Henry, one of the Patriots veterans he now teaches, despite the fact that they play different positions on different sides of the ball.
Prior to Monday’s training camp practice, Vrabel stated that Henry is a very comfortable player. Quite like Kevin Byard. You are aware that I prefer to discuss people rather than draw parallels. Kevin exuded comfort and confidence. He never appeared anxious. Before the play began, you could see other younger guys, perhaps in the same position, perspiring. They were running and doing checks and everything else. Additionally, Kevin was a great player for us and always exuded confidence and calmness.
Hunter makes me feel the same way. I believe that he is highly instinctive, has a good sense of the game, and does anything you want him to do with ease. All of those things are good, and I believe it contributes to his consistency.
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Henry expressed his gratitude to his head coach for the compliment.
He said, “It means a lot that he would say that.” Every day, I make an effort to bring that. I make an effort to be the same person here at home with my wife and children as I was at the building. It’s a privilege for him to say that, but it’s also a testament to my faith and to everyone around me.
Having set personal records in receiving yards (team-high 674), and catches (66), Henry is coming off the best statistical season of his career. The 30-year-old was a team captain and a dependable target for quarterback Drake Maye, just as he was for Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe in prior seasons. However, as in 2023, the Patriots fielded a below-average offense and finished 4-13.
Henry claimed that these hardships shaped him into the composed player Vrabel portrayed.
To be honest, Henry stated, “I think I’ve grown more in the last two years than I have in the last, probably, 28 years of my life.”
Henry will once more be a vital component of New England’s passing attack this season as a reliable weapon for Maye and one of the few active Patriots with prior experience playing under offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels (with whom he overlapped in 2021).
