{"id":245535,"date":"2025-07-29T14:25:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T14:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/245535\/"},"modified":"2025-07-29T14:25:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T14:25:15","slug":"robert-spillanes-unorthodox-nfl-training-regimen-blindfolded-hikes-and-falling-into-pools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/245535\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert Spillane\u2019s unorthodox NFL training regimen: Blindfolded hikes and falling into pools"},"content":{"rendered":"

FOXBORO, Mass. \u2014 This whole story was supposed to be a paragraph. Maybe two.<\/p>\n

Follow up on what seemed like a throwaway line from a press conference five months ago. Tack that onto the bottom of some training camp observations, and call it a day.<\/p>\n

Back in March, when Robert Spillane was one of four players introduced as part of the New England Patriots\u2019 free-agent spending spree, the linebacker mentioned that he does \u201ca lot of eyes-closed training.\u201d But it\u2019s hard to ask follow-up questions in formal press conferences, so the tidbit went unpursued. So on the first day of training camp, it was time to finally get an explanation.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, there are many layers to this program I\u2019ve developed over the years,\u201d Spillane said.<\/p>\n

Program? Layers? Self-developed?<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, that\u2019s one of the many unorthodox things that I do that has helped me get to where I\u2019m at,\u201d Spillane said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Robert Spillane has 306 tackles over the last two seasons, including 17 tackles for loss.<\/p>\n

The first walk up a small mountain probably looked normal to passersby. Just a dude in his late 20s on a hike.<\/p>\n

But for Spillane, there was more to it than meets the eye. Notice where the rocks are, which way the ground tilts, which branches could leave a black eye.<\/p>\n

The next day, Spillane returned \u2014 this time, to do it with his eyes shut. After that, another trip \u2014 this time, backward and blindfolded.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d done plenty of eyes-closed training in the past. He\u2019s a middle linebacker praised for always being in the right spot.<\/p>\n

For years, Spillane has believed his blind training was the reason for this.<\/p>\n

It started by simply walking forward with his eyes closed. Then backward. Then barefoot, forward and back again.<\/p>\n

Eventually, he took it to a football field. In a defensive playbook, he\u2019d be told as the middle linebacker to drop to a certain landmark depending on the play. So he tried it with his eyes closed. Drop 4 yards in coverage, then 5 yards to the left. Do that successfully, then try jumping on one leg with his eyes closed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t really learn it from anybody, so it\u2019s from the ground up, self-taught,\u201d Spillane said. \u201cIt\u2019s basically just a confidence drill. As a middle linebacker, you want to know where you are on the field at all times \u2014 within the positioning of the field, understanding the schematics, where the other players are around you. So you close your eyes and take away the most basic thing you use to understand that. You\u2019ve really got to rely on your instincts and your trust.\u201d<\/p>\n

That takes us back to the woods. All the on-field, eyes-closed training was complete. It was time to take it to the next level. So Spillane, fresh off the three-year, $33 million contract he signed with the Patriots that changed his life, stood at the trailhead, shut his eyes and started walking.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s at this point in the interview that I had to pause. Is this real? You really shut your eyes and walk through the woods? You really developed this yourself and believe it makes you a better linebacker?<\/p>\n

Even his new teammates had a hard time believing they weren\u2019t being punked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he told me that, I was like, \u2018This has to be a joke,\u2019\u201d fellow linebacker Christian Elliss said. \u201cThere\u2019s no way you\u2019re walking backward up a mountain with a blindfold. But in his words, he was like, \u2018I trust my body enough, and I trust my memory enough that I\u2019ll make it up that mountain.\u2019 And he did it, so what am I supposed to say to that?\u201d<\/p>\n

So, yeah, he insists it\u2019s all real.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, there are a lot of ways to be a successful football player,\u201d Spillane said, \u201cbut I found trusting myself has been the best way to go forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

So he made up more \u2026 ahem \u2026 drills to prep for football during the offseason. He stood at the edge of a pool and fell in awkwardly to prepare his body for the contact in tackling. Then he upped the ante. Fall into the pool at a weird angle, then re-adjust his body, fall into a single-leg squat at the bottom of the pool and try to jump off of that. (He said he\u2019s still searching for a pool in the area in which to conduct those drills.)<\/p>\n

\u201cFootball is won with strong football positioning, and being able to get back to that when you\u2019re out of position is really helpful,\u201d Spillane said. \u201cIt\u2019s a super explosive training without having to worry about impacts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spillane is into Eastern medicinal practices. He has tried self-hypnosis. He meditates. Alternative medications. He leans on basketball for conditioning. He runs routes as if he were a wide receiver. (\u201cIf you can run the route, you can cover the route,\u201d he said.) He joins wide receivers and cornerbacks for pass-catching drills.<\/p>\n

Robert Spillane using the Jugs machine\u2026 is Mike Vrabel trying to turn his new linebacker into the new Mike Vrabel in the red zone? pic.twitter.com\/meydmp3xga<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 FitzyGFY \ud83c\udf7a (brew checkmark) (@FitzyGFY) July 25, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s all part of a self-developed plan for the 29-year-old father of two daughters, who has forged an unlikely path to the NFL. After four years at Western Michigan, he tested poorly at his pro day, which tanked his draft stock. He went undrafted, as teams were convinced his lack of athleticism would keep him off an NFL roster.<\/p>\n

But a tryout with the Tennessee Titans in 2018 impressed then-head coach Mike Vrabel and earned him a training camp invite. Then the practice squad. Then some NFL games. Two as a rookie, eight the year after, 12 after that.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not the biggest, fastest or strongest. But coaches loved that he was always where he was supposed to be.<\/p>\n

Finally, his breakout came in the last two seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders. He ranked 10th in the NFL in tackles in 2023 (148), then fourth last season (158). Pro Football Focus graded him as the eighth-best run defender among 189 linebackers. The big contract from the Patriots followed \u2014 a full-circle moment with the coach who first put him on a roster. He\u2019s still the guy who does everything asked of him and is always in the right spot.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why Spillane was back at the base of that trail this offseason, ready to embark blindfolded. He succeeded, of course, journeying through the woods without seeing, left to use his other senses and his memory from the day before, even if the journey came with a stubbed toe or two.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is part of it, part of building those calluses \u2014 literally,\u201d Spillane said. \u201cPlaying through pain, learning how to practice through pain, that\u2019s all part of being a successful football player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sure, it\u2019s unorthodox. It draws confused looks and some snickers from teammates who hear about it. But maybe there\u2019s something to the blind training. Maybe it\u2019s what constantly puts him in the right spot on the football field. Or maybe it\u2019s just a confidence thing, a boost for a player who has been doubted so often throughout his career.<\/p>\n

Its efficacy might not be the point, though. What matters is that it helped an overlooked guy from a small college, long labeled unathletic, become one of the best tacklers in the NFL.<\/p>\n

(All photos: Eric Canha \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n