Some leftovers from a conference call with New England Patriots defensive end Jabaal Sheard, who is spending time working out in South Florida:
Critical of his dip in play last two seasons: "My career has been shaky; it's been up and down. I just haven't had the best year last year and the year before. I've just got to learn to finish and I'm hoping getting with the new coaches over here that I'll be able to work on that and get that accomplished."
Physical play one of his best attributes: "I think my main strengths is knocking guys back and creating penetration in the line of scrimmage, ultimately stopping the run and being a big factor there and getting after the quarterback or dropping, whatever else may come with it. Ultimately my strength, personally I think, is knocking guys back and creating penetration."
Thinking he'd be a Patriot in 2011: "I visited there coming [into] my rookie year and I thought I was going to be drafted there honestly coming out as a rookie. I got a second shot at it, meeting with the coaches again, [the] same coaches. Coming from a program where I was seeing new coaches every year, it's kind of some consistency there. I think that was huge and just the fact that guys that have been doing it a while, they know how to win. I want to be a part of that."
A rotation with edge players: "I feel like a lot of teams are definitely now going to that. The last two years I've been part of a different kind of rotation rather than my first two years. I definitely look forward to working with Chandler [Jones] and Rob [Ninkovich]. Those guys are definitely excited, just talking to them a little bit. I think we'll make a nice three-[man] tandem. We'll get after guys and create a lot of [havoc] in the backfield and on quarterbacks."