New England Patriots rumors: Team loses major member of coaching staff

The New England Patriots are experiencing a mass exodus of coaches and the most important loss may have just occurred.

You may not know who Jack Easterby is, but you’ll definitely be hearing about him now. The New England Patriots “character coach” has announced that he will be exploring other opportunities.

Easterby first came to the team to help players deal with the fallout from the Aaron Hernandez revelations. Since then he has been a mentor to many players.

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You may think that Easterby has no effect on the team, but just listen to how highly players speak of the man. Matthew Slater credits Easterby with changing the culture in New England.

"“I think it’s important as men that you have something that grounds you, something that’s bigger than the game of football,” Matthew Slater said this week. “And for many of the men in this locker room, Jack’s opened eyes to things that are greater. Obviously, for many of us that’s faith in Jesus Christ. But he has really caused guys to think about things differently.“I think that perspective has brought our group closer together, has built the character of our locker room, and I certainly don’t think we’re here without him.”"

Another Patriots player credited him for bringing the team together and getting them to play for one another.

What makes things even worse is that the Patriots have had many coaches depart the team this offseason. The sidelines will definitely look a lot different in the 2019 season.

Brian Flores is now the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, and Chad O’Shea who was a wide receivers coach in New England has joined him.

When you have a Super Bowl winning team, too much change can be harmful. You want to bring back as many guys as you can.

Easterby was also tasked with watching over Josh Gordon when the wide receiver came to the team. It will be interesting to see how Gordon deals with the loss if he returns to New England.

The Patriots seem to be going through a transition and hopefully it won’t affect them too much. When you lose some of these great coaches they leave big shoes to fill. If New England doesn’t have the right mindset headed into the season they could easily struggle like they did in 2018.

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So Jack Easterby might not seem like a big loss, but he had a major impact during his time with the New England Patriots.

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