Wilson and Ben Jones both attended the University of Georgia.
Shortly after the release of long-time starting center David Andrews, the New England Patriots turned to the draft — and back to the University of Georgia — to draft center Jared Wilson.
Regarded by many as the best pure center in the draft, Wilson now is in-line to be Andrews’ long-term replacement in New England. While the former Bulldogs have not yet held court, Wilson has had many conversations with Georgia alumni Ben Jones, who was Mike Vrabel’s starting center for five seasons in Tennessee.
“I’ve probably talked to Ben personally — maybe two or three times he came to practice,” Wilson said Friday. “We just talked. He’d come out [to Georgia] and watch practice. We’ve been on Zooms together right before we came up here. It’s been good hearing him talk and how he thinks and also watching his film and how he did it.
“He was in this offense with Vrabel and also with the Texans. We talked a little bit about how his rookie year went, and how his rookie minicamp went. He’s been giving me some good words of encouragement.”
A part of Jones’ main message to the rookie was that he will make mistakes, something Wilson quickly realized on day one of Patriots’ rookie minicamp on Friday.
“Take it slow, take it day-by-day, you’re going to make mistakes,” Wilson said of Jones’ advice. “Like I’m thinking about a mistake that I made in practice right now and it’s running in my head, but trying to just move on from it watch the film and just get better from it.”
Despite being close to Mike Vrabel during his own playing days, Jones did not, however, share any details about playing under the head coach. But in Wilson’s first few hours in Foxboro, Vrabel had already left a positive impression.
“Vrabel is a funny guy. He’s definitely a player’s coach, Wilson said. “He played in the league for a really long time, so he knows what it’s supposed to look like, how it’s supposed to look like, what the speeds supposed to be like.
“And he cares about this organization and about his players. You can tell how he comes into the building every single day — a smile on his face, how serious and intent he is with the details.”
After starting his collegiate career at guard, Wilson transitioned to center and went on to start all 12 games for the Bulldogs last season, earning Second Team All-SEC honors. As Vrabel did not rule out the possibility of Wilson cross-training at back guard this offseason, the 21-year-old spent the entirety of his first day at rookie minicamp at center.
“At first it was very frustrating — just never playing center, never snapping the ball, never calling out a call or anything. So it was real stressful” Wilson of the position switch in college. “It was fun once I realized what I could do at center… I feel like I was able to move in space more.”