FOXBORO, Mass. — Like everybody else on the New England Patriots, Terrell Jennings was heartbroken last Sunday night when teammate Antonio Gibson disappeared in a mass of humanity while returning a kickoff and came up limping.
It was one of those you-knew-it-was-bad-as-soon-
So, yes, Jennings did his mourning. And then he hit the practice field — and the playbook — to ramp up for what could be a greater role in New England’s running game when the Patriots travel to play the New Orleans Saints on Sunday at Caesars Superdome.
“Antonio and I are really close,” Jennings said Wednesday afternoon at Gillette Stadium, gesturing to the dressing stall to his right and then adding this: “He’s my locker buddy as well.”
And what did locker buddy Gibson tell Jennings after receiving the crushing news that his season was over?
“He told me, ‘It’s your time, man, come on, it’s time to go,’” Jennings said. “I took that hard, because that’s my brother. I’m with him every day. And to see him go down like that, it hurt me to the core. So I would be wrong if I didn’t go out there and do my job to uphold his standard.”
But there’s more to this story. While athletes are taught not to live in the past and to always, always, always look to the next game on the schedule, Jennings couldn’t avoid visiting a little of the past as he was discussing Gibson. It’s just that this visit to the past had nothing to do with Gibson’s injury, which took some of the luster off New England’s stunning 23-20 upset victory over the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium.
Instead, Jennings was talking about a football game that took place a couple of weeks ago between two local schools, Mansfield High (about eight miles from Gillette Stadium) and visiting Springfield Central.
And Jennings was also talking about last season, a crash-and-burn campaign in which the Patriots went 4-13, although there was a closeout 23-16 victory at Gillette Stadium over the limbering-up-for-the-playoffs Bills.
One would think nobody on the Patriots would possibly wish to connect the dots between this suddenly promising season and that sorry 2024 season. But to hang around for a few extra minutes with Jennings on Wednesday was to understand why it’s important.
“Last year the season didn’t go how we wanted it to go,” Jennings said. “That was very emotional for us, for all of us.”
Jennings is taking his talks with good friend Antonio Gibson to heart. (Eric Canha / Imagn Images)
Last year, as this year, Gibson and Jennings were locker mates.
“We were just sitting there, after the win at the end of the season, and Antonio was saying, ‘Man, this could have gone in a way more different direction than it did,” Jennings said.
Again, this was just the two of them?
“Yes, right here, right where we’re standing,” Jennings said. “It was emotional for us, because you don’t want to lose in football. Like, I hate losing more than I like winning. Losing is not a good taste in your mouth. So we’re here right now reminiscing about what was a very emotional time.”
Something Gibson said that day stayed with Jennings.
“Antonio said, ‘We gotta take this offseason and go hard,’” Jennings said. “He told me that. And that’s what we did. We applied it, and coach Vrabel’s come in, and he’s upholding that standard as well.”
Which brings us to the Mansfield-Central game. You’ve heard about team-building exercises, right? For Jennings, Gibson and other members of the Patriots, team building includes everything from going out to dinner to group texts. Or, as Jennings put it, “… sitting there doin’ our politicking, talking about life, talking about football.”
Sometimes a bunch of them get together and go find a high school football game to watch. In this case, it was Jennings and DeMario “Pop” Douglas, his former teammate at Mandarin High in Jacksonville, Fla., plus Gibson. Turns out Gibson was the real pop in this group. He’s 27. Jennings and Douglas are 24.
“We went to Mansfield against Central a few weeks ago,” Jennings said. “And AG’s like our third brother because he’s right with us everywhere we go.
“I try to see local high school football games because I know what it’s like for them,” Jennings said. “You want to look up in the stands and see guys who’ve been in the same shoes as you, and I feel like I’m that guy. And when the kids notice me and stuff, it’s an amazing feeling for me and an amazing feeling for them.”
Put it all together and we have powerful words from Gibson on the last day of last season. And a high school football outing. And then, after Gibson’s injury, and after the diagnosis, a go-get-’em pep talk to Jennings.
That, in a nutshell, is a behind-the-scenes look at what “next man up” is all about.
