FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Despite being conspicuous by his absence from day one of rookie minicamp, New England Patriots defensive coordinator Terrell Williams was quick to remind Pats Nation that he still very much holds the reins of the team’s defense.

Per physician’s orders — after recently suffering what he deemed to be an “eye-opening medical situation” — Williams remained at his home in Detroit as head coach Mike Vrabel, Patriots rookies and roster hopefuls took the practice fields for the first time this offseason.

While Williams acknowledged that his rookie defenders are in more than capable hands with Vrabel at the helm, he remains fully-invested in their development. In fact, one might say that he is “working remotely” until further notice.

“I want to make it clear that I’m away from the building, but I’m not away from the team,” Williams told reporters via video conference on Friday afternoon. “I’m doing well, and I’m not away from the football team.

“I came back home to Detroit for spring break and had a little medical scare. I mean, it wasn’t a little medical scare, it was a medical scare.”

The Patriots hired Williams as their new defensive coordinator in late January, shortly after Vrabel was named head coach. The two have a longstanding working relationship, having coached together with the Tennessee Titans when Williams served as Vrabel’s defensive line coach and his assistant head coach in 2023.

In 2024, his only season with the Detroit Lions, Williams coached the fourth-best defense in the NFL when it came to run success rate at 36.1. In turn, his presence should help to resurrect a Patriots run game which had fallen far and fast last year. Combined with his aggressive, physical approach to front-seven pressure, Williams has the experience to have the Pats defense showing marked improvement in 2025.

Still, the 50-year-old is cognizant of valuing his health above all else. As he continues to communicate with both players and staff via video conference, inside linebackers coach Zak Kuhr has assumed the in-person duties of this weekend’s three-day camp. Though he is eager to return to the both the coaches room and the practice fields, Williams is grateful for the opportunity to get well — and thus, come back stronger and with renewed vigor for his job.

“When something traumatic happens like that, and it was traumatic for me,” Williams said, “It gave me an opportunity to reflect, and look back at the people I care about and has made a difference in my life. I was able to do that.

“It also gave me a reminder that sometimes as coaches, as media folks, and athletes and doctors and whoever, we think we’re invincible and we’re not … this was a good wake up call for me.”

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