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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- With the Patriots' switch to a base 4-3 defense this season, the workload for veteran defensive tackle Vince Wilfork has spiked. Through 12 games, Wilfork has appeared on 729 of the team's 852 defensive snaps this season (85.6 percent), second on the team to only cornerback Kyle Arrington (732 snaps).

By comparison, Wilfork has averaged approximately 66 percent of total defensive snaps over the past three seasons, including roughly 71 percent of snaps in 2010. The next closest defensive lineman on this year's roster is Andre Carter (663 snaps), while the other starting defensive tackle, Kyle Love, has logged less than half as many snaps (384).

So how is Wilfork feeling?

"I feel 100 percent fresh," Wilfork said with a smile on Thursday. "I’m telling the truth. Right now, I think everyone feels the same way. You have rookies that feel a certain way, guys that have been around -- it’s a long season, but this is the time when you have to be able to take care of yourself, take care of your body, put the right things in your body, and do the extra little thing to keep you healthy. It’s not going to be pretty, you're not going to wake up and feel like you did four months ago -- that ain’t going to happen.

"I feel good. Me, personally, I cant complain about the way I feel. I’ll tell you what, I feel a lot better than I did a couple years ago -- knock on wood there. But everybody is in the same same boat. It’s a grind. It's a tough level to play at, but it’s the NFL, you have to. When you talk about the best of the best, it don’t get any better than this. This is what separates good teams from the bad teams, right now, the good players from the bad players. You have to be able to hold up, do the extra little things just to keep it going, keep focused on your job."

Wilfork is coming off maybe his best individual effort of the season in Sunday's win over the Colts in which he registered a team-high 10 tackles, including a sack. But Wilfork was adamant that individual stats mean nothing and that the victory is his only gauge of success.

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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork is the latest to come out in support of the team's defensive backs, noting Thursday that the defense is a complementary unit and suggesting that each position group bears responsibility for the team's struggles in pass defense.

"We all take part of [the criticism]," said Wilfork. "You’re not going to sit back and say, 'They catch the ball because they're not covered.' That’s part on us up front, too, not being able to get to the quarterback quick enough. It works hand in hand. It’s not track [and field], where you can go out and throw a shot put, or run the 100-yard dash and win a medal by yourself. You win together. And the quicker we understand that, the better we’ll be. I think we understand that.

"Trust me, I don’t want any of our defensive backs to think it’s their fault we’re not getting off the field on third down. Or they catch an in-cut 20 yards down the field -- 20 yards down the field, that gives us up front a lot of time to work, and get to the quarterback. We have to take some of the blame, and we are."

With his defensive backs under fire after the Steelers passed all over the Patriots Sunday in Pittsburgh, Belichick made it a point Wednesday to stress that corners were not at the top of the problem list. Belichick pointed to the fact that many of Pittsburgh's big plays came between the numbers, rather than on the perimeter of the field.

In a way, that's condemning of the safeties and linebackers. But Wilfork, a defensive captain, made sure to stress it's a unit-wide problem. And one he says the team is working to fix.

"One thing we’ve been doing, we just keep working," said Wilfork. "There are challenges each week and we keep working. We have to work harder, so that’s what we’ll do."

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- It's not uncommon to hear Player A say they hope that Player B will play on Sunday because Team A wants Team B at their best. It's usually a lie. So give credit to Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork, who was brutally honest Thursday when asked if he hopes dinged-up Jets center Nick Mangold would be back on the field this week.

"No, I don’t," said Wilfork, offering about as high a compliment as an opponent can with that statement. "He’s probably one of the best offensive linemen in the game. He’s definitely a leader on that team for them. I’m pretty sure that they would love for him to play because I think he gives them a spark. It’s absolutely a difference when he’s in and when he’s not in. I think they need that leadership and everything around that. I expect for him to be in there to get things going and everything and get his team off to a good start."

Wilfork brought plenty of opinions to the podium during Thursday's defensive captain press conference at Gillette Stadium, including his thoughts on how the Patriots will move forward without fellow cocaptain Jerod Mayo (knee injury).

"I think when someone goes down, everybody else has to step up and play their role," said Wilfork. "I think this is going to be a prime example for us. Whatever happens, whoever we have on Sunday out there playing, they have to be able to come in and step up because we’re all depending on them. I don’t think Bill [Belichick] would put anyone out on this field that he doesn’t have confidence in. We feel the same way. We have each other’s back. We know exactly what we have in this locker room and on this field. It’s a good thing when you can sit back and say, ‘We have more that we can give.’ That’s the situation that we have."

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OAKLAND -- The Patriots' defense gave up another 300-yard passing game Sunday against the Raiders, but here's a far more sobering statistic for the New England secondary: Through four games, the team leader in interception return yards is 325-pound defensive lineman Vince Wilfork ... and it's not even close.

For only the second time in his eight-year career -- but the second time in three weeks -- Wilfork produced another highlight-reel interception, snaring a Jason Campbell offering in the fourth quarter of Sunday's 31-19 triumph at O.co Coliseum.

After rumbling 19 yards with the interception, Wilfork now boasts 47 return yards on his two picks. That's essentially double the yardage produced in the team's five other interceptions by Kyle Arrington (3 INT, 27 yards), Sergio Brown (1 INT, 2 yards) and Patrick Chung (1 INT, 0 yards).

After suggesting that his interception against San Diego in Week 2 might have been a once-in-a-career moment, was Wilfork baiting Campbell this time around?

"No, to be honest with you, I don’t know what I did," he said. "I have to go back and watch the play. One thing with a lot of quarterbacks is, when it comes to passing it, they want to go deep then come back to their security, that’s their checkdowns or cross or whatever it may be. I was just happy to be in the right place at the right time."

Even still, Wilfork showed his athleticism by stepping in front of an offering for Darren McFadden on a crossing route. Wilfork then stiff-armed an offensive lineman to get in the open, before dragging a few more bodies on the return.

"Vince has got great hands," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "People don't realize that because he's not a skill player, but he can catch the ball, catch punts and everything else. When he gets his hands on it, he's like a vacuum cleaner. He sucks it right in there. It was a big play for us and great awareness on Vince's part. He's a hard guy to bring down. You have to gang-tackle him."

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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Impossible as it may seen, Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork arrived at Gillette Stadium on Monday morning and hadn't yet seen a replay of his interception in Sunday's win over the San Diego Chargers.

Despite countless replays on SportsCenter and local news broadcasts, Wilfork had managed to avoid it until he sat down for a little film review.

"I didn't come in just to watch that play, I always look at the game before we go in as a defense, just to critique myself, and see what we we did well and what things we didn’t do well," said Wilfork. "When I got to that play, I slowed it down and looked a couple times. I won’t lie. I watched it a couple times. That was first time saw it.

"My wife [Bianca], she was all on it. She had the papers, the SportsCenter stuff -- wherever it was out there, she got it, trust me. Me, I'm kinda laid back, I try not to let it affect anything that's going on in the future, especially this week. The [worst] thing I can do is go out there Sunday [vs. Buffalo] and play the worst game of my career, then everybody will turn to me and say, 'Hey, if you weren’t thinking about that interception, you probably would have played better.' I have to turn the page."

But turning the page is easier said than done, especially when the interception (and ensuing rumble down the sideline) is the first topic of conversation with every new person he sees this week.

"When I go places, the first thing people want to talk about is that play," said Wilfork. "I had some people saying that’s the greatest play they’ve ever seen and these people are 60 years old. So they’ve been around for a long time and I'm pretty sure they’ve seen a lot of football. To rank that as one of the best they've seen, that’s an honor."

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Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork is one of many former University of Miami football players who are named in a Yahoo! Sports report that outlines a former booster's role in providing improper benefits to players from 2002 to 2010.

Convicted Ponzi scheme architect Nevin Shapiro told Yahoo! Sports he provided impermissible benefits to dozens of Miami athletes, most of whom were involved with the football program.

According to the report, Wilfork received a $50,000 lump sum payment during his junior season, among other benefits. Shapiro said the payment was made to secure Wilfork’s commitment to Shapiro’s sports agency.

Wilfork also received several "bounty" payments for sacks and a fumble recovery.

Wilfork played at Miami from 2001 to 2004, and was selected by the Patriots with the 21st pick in the 2004 draft.

When contacted by Yahoo! Sports, Wilfork declined to speak about Shapiro. “I’m not interested buddy,” Wilfork said, before hanging up.

Shapiro says he gave money, cars, yacht trips, jewelry, televisions and other gifts between 2002 and 2010, when he was a booster at the school. He claims he paid for nightclub outings, sex parties, restaurant meals and in one case, an abortion.

Yahoo! Sports says it spent 100 hours interviewing Shapiro over the span of 11 months.

In June, Shapiro was sentenced to 20 years in prison after he admitted to securities fraud and money laundering. He was also ordered to pay more than $82 million in restitution to his victims.

The NCAA is investigating Shapiro's role with the program.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork expressed excitement at getting back on the practice field, offered praise for potential teammate Albert Haynesworth and suggested he'd be OK with shuffling his position so long as it aids New England in winning games. Here's some highlights from his 12-minute chat with the media after Thursday's morning walkthrough outside Gillette Stadium:

On getting back to work: "Just happy to be back. It’s been a long time for us, for all of us, for myself. It’s time to get to work. We have a lot in front of us right now, going into the playbook, great deal of commitment to where we want to be. That’s where we’re at now, starting with the meetings and the walkthrough and just start putting it together."

On Albert Haynesworth as a player and potential teammate: "I think he’s a great player, hell of a player. I had a chance to play in the Pro Bowl with him. I think he’s a great athlete... One thing we try not to do is see what’s going on around the league because our hands are full right now. No more two-a-days, that knocks half of your practices away. We’re in that study room, watching film, getting back, and trying to move forward. Whatever that is, that’s what we’re going to do. If it’s with certain people, it is, if it’s not, oh well, this ship is moving, moving fast, moving quick. I'm just excited to be back."

On leadership in locker room without old stalwarts: "That’s the past. What we have is what we have. We've had some great players come through here. We have some pretty good players now. I’ve been with some good players and I’ve got some great, great teammates now. But all that doesn't matter right now. What matters right now: How fast we can go in this film room, get into this playbook and come out here and put it together. That’s what our focus is."

On playing defensive end in the past: "It was different, but you never know what happens. I always classify myself as a defensive lineman, so whatever I can do to help my team, I’ll do. I’m just blessed [coach] Bill [Belichick] had the faith in me to do what I did. Whatever it takes to win, I’m all for it. I'd go to war with my teammates any time, we love to win. Right now, we're far away from that right now. We haven’t even practiced yet. With time, if we have the commitment, there’s no doubt in my mind we can get to a level that we are comfortable with."

On teaching the Patriot Way to newcomers: "That person, he’ll see how we do things around here. Point blank. We’ve had guys come through here with a rap sheet, [people saying] that, 'He can’t be handled,' or 'This guy can't do this.' You know what, it worked out fine for us. So, I don’t think it’ll be a big problem for us. Like I said, that’s the organization’s call on who they bring in and who they don’t bring in. As a teammate, when we’re on the field, we’re all working together, we want to be the best."

On Belichick's plan for afternoon session: "I don’ know. What does he have for us? I’m pretty sure it’s something we need."

Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork said he and the other veterans made it clear last week to the rookies how important the Buffalo game was.

Appearing on WEEI on Monday morning, Wilfork said that it's rare for the Patriots to place special significance on a certain game -- maintaining that they're all important -- but that last week in practice "we needed to get it through to players what it means to win this game."

Walking in the locker room after the game to find AFC East Champions hats and T-shirts helped capture the significance of the victory, he said.

And now that the Patriots are AFC East champions and can look ahead to having home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs, the veterans may need to explain to the rookies the difference between regular-season and playoff football.

Wilfork said it's simple: Now's the time the team definitely has to play "60 minutes of football."

His main advice to the young players?

"Every game is like a championship game."

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The New England Patriots may not statistically have one of the better defenses in the league, but defensive lineman Vince Wilfork isn’t one to put much stock into numbers.

“The important part is winning. We’re 9-2,” Wilfork said. “There’s a lot of teams who have pretty good defenses out there, but they don’t have the record to show it.

“People can say what they want to say about this team, about this defense, the people we have here. The one thing we’re trying to do here is win. Point blank. So if that calls for us to be the 32nd defense in the league, then that is what it is.”

The Patriots will face one of their bigger defensive tests of the season on Monday night, matching up against a Jets offense that was missing wide receiver Santonio Holmes in the teams’ Week 2 matchup.

“The Jets are a great football team. Not good, [but] great,” Wilfork said. “They probably have one of the top players at each position. It will be tough for us. But we’ll accept the challenge.

“We have our hands full. But we won’t back down from any challenges and hopefully we’ll come to play on Monday. If you’re a football fan, and you love the game, it doesn’t take you much to get jacked up for this game.”

In the end, Monday night’s game will have ramifications not only in terms of the division title, but also with playoff seeding and home field advantage.

“The one thing I know is football starts now. We have to be able to play good football in December and January,” Wilfork said. “That’s one thing we want to do -- come out and match their intensity. If we can’t do that, it’s going to be a long day for us.”

During his weekly interview on Boston sports radio station WEEI on Monday, New England Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork made some interesting comments on the physical play of the defense against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night.

"I totally 110 percent agree [that this was our most physical performance of the season], because the calls we had in allowed us to be aggressive,” Wilfork said. "From the coaches to the players, we never second-guessed out there when we made a call. When a call got sent in, it was just, everybody was so tuned in and knew exactly what they needed to do and it allowed us to play aggressive and hard.

"And you know what? When we play like that, and when we play consistent football, we play great. It's the times when we don't play consistent, it hurts. Last night was a great example of us all being on the same tune, jelling together, and going out there and being physical, especially up front. Both our offensive and defensive lines handled their front pretty well."

Wilfork credited the game plan for allowing the defense, which sacked Ben Roethlisberger five times, to be physical and aggressive.

"When we got this game plan, it was like, 'Man, I love it. I love it,'" Wilfork said. "Like I said, it allowed us to play physical and play aggressive. And that's how we played."

In a light moment, Wilfork discussed the possibility of racing Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, which is something the two exchanged jabs about earlier this season.

"I told Brady in the offseason that we'll get 'er done," Wilfork said. "You know what we're going to do? We're going to run for charity, that's what we're going to do. I'm going to talk to Mr. Kraft and we're going to go into Foxborough, go into the stadium, get your popcorn, ice cream, or whatever and we're going to race. ... We'll have everybody there. WEEI's going to be there, ESPN's going to be there, everybody is going to be there to witness this."

When pressed about the length of the race, the 6-foor-2, 325-pound Wilfork stressed that the best distance for him would be 40 yards.
"The race is going to be 40 [yards]. Anything shorter, he definitely won't win. Anything under 40, he will not win. I guarantee that one. The longer it goes, the advantage goes to him. Look here, anything after 40 yards, I don't need to be running that. I'll tell you that right now. But anything under 40 yards, he's in trouble."

In the video above, Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork discusses the defense’s bounce-back effort against the Steelers on Sunday night.

“Especially coming off an embarrassing loss as a defensive unit, we just wanted this game to hurry up and get here,” Wilfork said. “... I think everybody did a good job of coming to work, putting the Cleveland game behind us and focusing on the Steelers football team. We did well. We prepared well. ... We were just eager to get to this game and get this game started, just to get the bad taste from the Cleveland game out of our mouth.”

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Nose tackle Vince Wilfork had some strong words about the Patriots’ overtime victory over the Ravens on Sunday, calling it “one of the biggest wins around here in a long time” and praising the defense for stepping up in the second half. Here are some of his comments:

Thoughts on the magnitude of the victory:

“I’ll tell you, [I’m feeling] exhausted. Both teams came out and played good football, a lot of credit to the Ravens. Those guys came out and fought hard, but at the same time, we came out and fought hard. What we displayed today was a team. When things weren’t going good, we stuck together. We just kept on saying, ‘Lets just control what we can control’. One play at a time, and everybody got the message.

“That was awesome. Big win. Probably one of the biggest wins around here in a long time. It was the most physical game I’ve ever played in and my hat goes off to my teammates, coaching staff [and their] preparation.”

On the Patriots sticking together after getting down 10 points in the fourth quarter:

“Everyone got the message. A lot of guys here for the playoff game [last season] understood what this game meant. To get away with a W and how we did it -- down 10 and we fought back. At times, we were getting booed, but you know what? We looked past all that stuff and stuck together as a team, a true team. That’s what we have here. We have a very, very good team. We go to war every day for each other, we practice together, we work hard every day and it paid off today for us. I’m very excited about this win -- tired. But at the same time, the feeling is a really good feeling.”

On the defense delivering:

“We stepped up when we needed to step up. All year on third down, we’ve had problems in that area. Then, something went off and we basically turned it around. It’s third down and we get off the field. Once we can get off the field, we’re a totally different defense. ... Now everybody understands how important third down is. Something that small, you know?”

On playing for one another:

“We never gave up. I don’t care what the clock said, we always believed we were going to win that ballgame. How? We didn’t know. But one thing I do know, we stood up for one another. We played for one another. That’s a team. I can go play for anybody if they’re willing to do what we did today. ...

“That’s a very good team in Baltimore, don’t get me wrong. They played their butts off … that ballgame could have gone either way. Both were slugging it out back and forth, back and forth. I’m happy to be on the W side this time.”

With quite a bit of chatter surrounding the Patriots, nose tackle Vince Wilfork, and the possible assigning of the franchise tag, this piece from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette caught the eye from an NFL context point of view.

In short, Steelers director of football operations Kevin Colbert identified three of his own players as priorities to re-sign. On Friday, he said the Steelers wouldn't start negotiating with them for about one week, meaning the earliest they would talk is Feb. 19. Based on the way those talks go, Colbert said the Steelers would then consider the possibility of assigning either the franchise or transition tag as a vehicle to retain the players by the Feb. 25 deadline.

This was interesting to me, because it created a small window to strike a deal.

It then led me back to the Patriots and Wilfork.

More than anything, it was a reminder that a potential contract can come together quickly. This isn't the type of situation where weeks are needed to hammer something out if both sides are motivated and committed to the process.

That is one reason why it wouldn't surprise me if momentum builds for the Patriots and Wilfork to strike a deal.

Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork, in Miami for Sunday's Pro Bowl, on Thursday touched on his contract situation with Omar Kelly of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Wilfork, whose six-year rookie contract expired at the end of the season and has balked at the idea of the Patriots placing the franchise tag on him, repeated his desire for a long-term contract that he feels is worth his market value.

And while he told the Sun-Sentinel, "I would love to stay in New England if I had the chance," he also said that if things don't work out in New England, it would be a "dream come true" to play in Florida.

Wilfork grew up in Florida and played football at the University of Miami.

A few Wilfork sound bites from media availability at the Pro Bowl on Thursday:

On the Pro Bowl and high number of replacements: "Well, it goes to show you the type of players that Indianapolis and New Orleans put out, the talent they have."

On the Super Bowl matchup: "There is nothing really you can break down; I mean both of them are two real good football teams, by far the best teams in the NFL this year. You are getting it on Sunday. I mean they are two great quarterbacks, great receivers, great core offense, and good defenses. It is going to be a good game."

On comparing Colts QB Peyton Manning and Saints QB Drew Brees: "Right now, they are playing at a high level. Peyton (Manning) has been doing it for so long, he is the best of the best out there. He is a very good quarterback. I think (Drew) Brees has been under the radar for a long time, now that he is in the Super Bowl I think a lot of people are starting to see the real Drew Brees. But Drew Brees has been playing good football for a long time, but he has just been kind of under the radar just because he hasn’t had big-game experience or the playoff experience and all that. But every year he throws for a bunch of yards, and throws touchdowns and everything just like some of the great quarterbacks around. I am happy to see him get his props because it is well overdue."

On the Colts running game: "They’ll find one, trust me. A good team will find a way to win, I guarantee you that."

Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork’s interview on sports radio WEEI on Wednesday was notable not just for what he said, but also for how he said it.

The tone was powerful. After listening to it, it sounds like Wilfork is drawing decisive contractual battle lines, almost as if to say “No more Mr. Nice Guy.”

The part that stood out and what I believe is at the root of Wilfork’s displeasure was when he said early in the interview:

“We never asked for a six-year deal from the get-go. Right after we signed a six-year deal [as a rookie], they came out with a rule about no six-year deals. Honestly, somebody is seeing something wrong with guys getting six-year deals. I didn’t like the six-year deal but I did honor it. … We tried for a five-year deal and we didn’t get [it].”

My feeling is that Wilfork felt a six-year contract was forced upon him in 2004, and that has him ready to dig in his cleats in negotiations with the team.

As a first-round draft choice in 2004, the 21^st overall selection, Wilfork had little leverage with the Patriots having won two Super Bowls in the previous three years. That meant the team was in a position to essentially say, “If you don’t want a six-year deal, we’ll move on without you.”

Tight end Benjamin Watson, another first-round draft choice that year, was in a similar situation. He was a holdout before ultimately accepting a six-year pact (his original agent wouldn’t sign the deal, so Watson hired a different agent).

The Patriots, it should be noted, were operating fully within the rules at the time. It should also be noted that the Patriots have offered Wilfork a long-term deal, which would provide him more security, but it is below what he feels is his market value.

In the end, like many contract negotiations, leverage is a big part of the game.

Wilfork seems to have a bad feeling about how the Patriots used their leverage back in 2004, and probably realizes he has little leverage now given the NFL's uncertain labor situation. He's in a tough spot.

His tone in today’s radio interview with Michael Holley and Lou Merloni on the "Dale and Holley Show" reflected that, and is setting the stage for what could be a contentious situation.