Hammer time for versatile Patriots linebacker Jahlani Tavai

A former 2019 second-round pick of Matt Patricia’s Lions, Jahlani Tavai arrived in New England as an unheralded practice squad addition at the opening of the 2021 season.

Now, less than two years later, Tavai is not just a key cog on the Patriots versatile defensive front seven but he might just be turning into a two-way player with a role at fullback. It was Tavai lined up in front of running back Kevin Harris during a goal line segment late in Monday’s first full-pads practice of the summer, leading the way for a touchdown.

“I think it’s just a test run right now,” Tavai said of his fullback role in an interview with WEEI’s “Gresh and Fauria” after practice on Tuesday. “Bill [Belichick] came up to me, probably before OTAs, and had a conversation about it. He thought I was smart enough to handle that responsibility and I like to think I am.”

Tavai’s growth in both roles and contributions has been pretty impressive. He played in 13 games with no starts in 2021, logging six tackles on defense and another eight on special teams. Last fall, in action all over the defensive front, he started 12 of 17 games played and totaled 63 tackles, 1.5 sacks and a pair of passes defensed.

“The biggest thing that I wanted to work on when I first got here was the trust,” Tavai said. “That’s a big thing that we on the defense hold responsible for. If we can’t trust one person then it’s going to corrupt the whole thing. So throughout the whole training camp last year and the season whether I was playing D-end, outside ‘backer, inside ‘backer I wanted to make sure that each guy on the field knew that I knew what I was doing. I wanted to make sure that my communication was on point. So if I knew what I was doing everybody knew what they were doing. Because me and (Ja’Whaun Bentley) were literally calling everything from the front to the back. So the biggest thing was just me building trust with each guy on the field.”

Now, even before considering his fullback reps, Tavai has become one of the more versatile and valuable members of the defense that is expected to play at a high level in 2023.

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“When Jahlani came here, he knew a lot about our system from being in Detroit. A lot of things we do are sort of similar to what he was doing with the Lions. The learning curve hasn’t been a big one for him,” Belichick said. “He’s been a really solid player for us, both in the kicking game and defensively. He’s got a lot of versatility, good size, can play off the ball, play on the ball, play in the kicking game, smart, signal caller, can run the defense. He has a lot of value.”

Tavai isn’t yet ready to talk about any expectations for himself or the New England defense this fall, but he does like one certain aspect of the unit that he’s seen through the first week of training camp practice.

“For the most part all I like to see, when I’m watching film all 11 hats are to the ball. That’s what excites me,” Tavai told “Gresh and Fauria.” “And gets me pumped up and ready for the next day. Because it’s a scary thing when you get 11 people to the ball. I know everybody who’s on offense, especially myself if I see 11 people about to hit me, eh, you know that’s a scary sight. I know that our hustle and our effort is there. That’s really all I can speak on right now.”

Oh, and if those reps at fullback continue to come his way, Tavai brings a pretty simple, old-school football mentality to the new role.

“For the most part when we’re in that situation it’s do or die. All you need is 1 yard. It’s either you’re going to be the hammer or you’re going to be the nail. I need to be that hammer,” Tavai said with a smile.