The Patriots notched nine sacks as a team in the win over the Bears on Sunday, with one of them coming from an unexpected source.
Brenden Schooler, New England’s 27-year-old special teams ace, made a rare appearance as part of the defense, logging a few snaps in the 19-3 victory. Patriots’ defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington used Schooler’s athleticism as a quarterback “spy” (a term used for a defender tasked with tracking the quarterback to prevent scrambling).
Schooler marked his debut with a sack on Chicago rookie Caleb Williams in the third quarter:
“That’s our Longhorn package,” Patriots coach Jerod Mayo explained after the game, citing the name of the specific unit that utilized Schooler on defense.