For Jahlani Tavai, football runs in the family

FOXBORO — For Patriots linebacker Jahlani Tavai, football runs in the family. 

His father played and helped get him into the game. His mother played and helped him get into the game. Not only did his aunt play, but she also coached him, helping him get into the game.

Jahlani was not the only Tavai child to fall in love with football, either. Of the seven kids in his family, five have gone on to play at the Division 1 level. Jahlani and his older brother, J.R., have both made it to the NFL, while younger brothers Jonah and Justus are senior defensive linemen at San Diego State.

“I’m hopeful the next two at San Diego State are in the next draft class and get that opportunity,” Tavai told WBZ-TV’s Dan Roche on Wednesday night’s Patriots 1st Down. “We just keep that pipeline going.”

Both Tavai’s father and mother played on the defensive line during their football days. His mother, Nafanua Schuster-Tavai, played pro ball for the San Diego Surge and Pacific Warriors of the Women’s Football Alliance. His aunt, whom he refers to as his “crazy Auntie Tania” was also a member of the Surge.

But football is not the only love of the Tavai family. Everyone also played rugby, with his uncle, John Schuster, a former professional in New Zealand. 

“I’m grateful that both of my parents were multi-sport athletes,” said Tavai, who wants to play rugby professionally when his time in the NFL comes to an end.

“I want to do that before I can’t run anymore,” he said.

But for now, Tavai has plenty of running to do for the New England defense. A second-round pick by the Lions in 2019, Tavai never lived up to the hype in Detroit. But he has found new life over the last two seasons with the Patriots.

Bill Belichick said that he worked Tavai out when he was a prospect coming out of Hawaii, but Matt Patricia and the Lions drafted him two picks before New England’s turn in the second round. Belichick is happy to have Tavai in New England now.

“We always get our man,” Belichick joked Friday. “Not always, but usually. Sometimes, we get our man — the second time around.”

Tavai carved out a nice role on special teams with the Patriots last season, and has proven that he can make an impact on defense in 2022. A bubble player in training camp, he made the 53-man roster and really broke out in Week 4 with eight combined tackles in New England’s overtime loss against the Green Bay Packers. He followed that up with five combined tackles while seeing 79 percent of New England’s defensive snaps against the Lions in Week 5. Tavai also had a helping hand in Jack Jones’ interception of Jared Goff in the first quarter of the Patriots’ win.

Tavai said there is this switch inside when he plays rugby, where he just wants to go out and get the ball. He has a similar approach on defense with the Patriots, and is happy with the new level that the unit has found over the last few weeks.

“It’s been good. The film tells it all; we’re just a bunch of guys who just want to go out and play ball and fly around like their hair is on fire,” he said of New England’s stellar defensive play the last two weeks. “That is the biggest thing for us. … You flip that switch and you become a maniac trying to get to the ball as quickly as possible and make plays.”

Tavai and the rest of New England’s linebackers should have plenty of opportunities to make plays Monday night against a Bears rushing offense that ranks second in the NFL in yards per game.

Tune in to Patriots 1st Down every Wednesday night at 9:30 p.m. on TV38!