"Right now," Wilfork said, "I got a pretty bad one out there."
When Wilfork pulls on his shoulder pads in Indianapolis - his wallet a bit thinner from the fine Goodell issued him in lieu of a suspension - he will have a new, taxing thought on his mind: Can he play with his usual aggression between whistles, while never again inviting discipline for what he does after them?
The question came to the fore this week after the NFL reviewed a play from the Patriots' 41-7 victory over Denver Oct. 20, during which Wilfork appeared to elbow Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler in the head after a play. Wilfork's past - four similar plays last year - made the meeting a necessity for the league and a means for Wilfork to begin re casting his image.
"I play hard, and that's one thing I stressed to him - I'm very passionate about the game," Wilfork said. "Sometimes it might be too hard, and I told him that. We'll go from here. I told him I'll try to change my style up a little bit and, hopefully, get a better slate. We hit some areas that needed to be touched on from his standpoint and my standpoint. We both listened to each other, and I think that was the main thing."
Coach Bill Belichick declined to comment on Wilfork's latest league discipline, saying the Patriots "don't have anything to do with it. It's a league matter. Whatever they want to say about it, they can say about it."
Cutler, however, had something to say.
"I think it was on the second fumble," he said. "I got rolled up by [Rodney] Harrison and then on my way back up, I think he gave me a forearm to the head. I was a little dizzy afterward. I guess [Broncos management] called it in on him. I didn't even really watch the hit on film."
Wilfork played his first three NFL seasons without drawing action from the league, and earning his place as one of football's best run-stuffers. The latter remains true, but the former changed last year.
