FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Don't ask Rodney Harrison to reflect on the Patriots' almost-perfect season. The veteran safety says he isn't haunted by the Super Bowl loss to the New York Giants that denied New England the first 19-0 finish in NFL history.
"I don't know why you guys keep talking about last year," Harrison said Friday at the Patriots' minicamp. "That is behind me. I'm not even thinking about last year. I'm so excited about this year and that's what I'm focused on."
Harrison acknowledged it took him a few weeks to get the Super Bowl loss out of his system. But he said that was about the same time it took him to put the Patriots' 2003 and 2004 Super Bowl victories behind him and start looking to the future.
"If you sit back and just bask in what you've done, that's how you get set up for not being prepared and taking things for granted. We have to forget about success as well as failure," he said.
The 35-year-old Harrison said he never considered retirement in the offseason. He said he "just needed some rest" before playing the final year of his current contract.
"It was nice just to get away from football," Harrison said. "You spend six, seven months doing something, grinding day in and day out, you get tired, mentally as well as physically. Just getting some rest, getting re-energized. I'm ready to go."
The three-day mandatory minicamp is the team's last formal gathering before the start of training camp.
The Patriots' secondary will have a new look this season after losing franchise cornerback Asante Samuel (Philadelphia) and backup Randall Gay (New Orleans) in free agency.
Ellis Hobbs, who was beaten by Plaxico Burress on the Super Bowl-winning touchdown, is expected to man one of the corner spots. Contenders for Samuel's job include draft picks Terrence Wheatley and Jonathan Wilhite, as well as free agents Fernando Bryant, Lewis Sanders and Jason Webster.
"Every year, no team stays the same," Harrison said. "You always have a bunch of new guys -- veteran-wise and rookie-wise -- that you have to blend in. That's their job, to blend in and learn the system."
The Patriots also signed free agent safety Tank Williams, a seven-year veteran with 59 career starts. He joins Harrison, fellow starter James Sanders and 2007 first-round pick Brandon Meriweather.
"I like him because he's such a humble kid," Harrison said of Williams, a 6-foot-2, 223-pound safety who also has played at linebacker at times in the offseason. "He wants to learn. He's always asking questions. He's a pretty quiet guy to be so big and imposing. I'm just glad he's on our team because he definitely can help us."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
