BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Marquis Flowers isn’t the marquee player on the Arizona Wildcats billboard that watched over passers-by during Super Bowl week. He’s not the Patriots’ Rob Gronkowski, perhaps the greatest tight end in league history, or Nick Foles, the Eagles’ starting quarterback Sunday.
His name recognition might trail even Eagles special teams coach Dave Fipp, a UA alum.
That doesn’t make him appreciate his journey any less. Quite the opposite.
“That’s love,” he said of the sign, paid for by the UA. “I appreciate that. It’s cool, man. Real cool.”
After spending the first thee years of his pro career with the Bengals — a shoulder injury wiped out his 2015 year — Flowers was traded to the Patriots on the eve of this season. He’s since started twice at linebacker and appeared in every game, but has become an increasingly relevant cog in the AFC champions’ defense.
Flowers totaled only 32 defensive snaps in the first eight weeks of the regular season. He then became a regular contributor, playing at least a third of the Patriots’ defensive snaps in seven of the last eight games before the playoffs.
It was out of necessity: linebacker Dont’a Hightower tore a pectoral muscle in Week 7 and was eventually placed on injured reserve.
On Christmas Eve, playing linebacker in the Patriots’ seven defensive back package, Flowers posted 2½ sacks — the first sacks of his career. He had another one in the third quarter of the Patriots’ first playoff game, tackling Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota to set up a third-and-31 from Tennessee’s own 2. In the AFC title game, he played about a quarter of the Patriots’ defensive snaps.
All along, he served as a special teams stalwart, playing on about half the Patriots’ kicking and return downs.
“When Sunday gets here, man, that’s when everything’s gonna be working for us,” Flowers, who turns 26 later this month, said this week. “You’ve just got to accept that challenge. The Eagles are a great team coming in, and they’re hungry.”
Flowers, a Goodyear Millennium High School alum, returns to Tucson for basketball games and Lance Briggs’ football camp; he wants to fly out and meet new coach Kevin Sumlin soon.
The Patriots are trying to win their sixth Super Bowl in 17 years. Flowers hopes some of the experience rubs off.
“I just want to talk to the veterans and the coaches and ask them, ‘How do you get past the distraction? How do you get the distractions out?’” he said. “This franchise has been here a lot; still, every year it’s different players.”
On an unfamiliar day — halftime lasts twice as long, as does the gap between player warmups and the start of the game — Flowers will see one familiar face: Foles. They were teammates from 2010 -11.
“Great guy, great teammate, leader, competitor,” Flowers said. “Just a great locker room guy. Captain. He held himself accountable, every game, every week. He prepared well.”
Flowers will be tasked to stop him.
“Their offense is really great,” he said. “I think their offense makes it a lot easier for their defense because of how well they play. Their whole team is what we’ve gotta worry about. They’re the best team in the NFC.”
