 Flowers in 2019 | |||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born: | (1993-08-16)August 16, 1993 (age 31) Huntsville, Alabama, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 265 lb (120 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | Columbia(Huntsville, Alabama) | ||||||||||||
| College: | Arkansas (2011–2014) | ||||||||||||
| Position: | Defensive end | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2015: 4th round, 101st pick | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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Robert Lee "Trey"Flowers III[1] (born August 16, 1993) is an American professionalfootballdefensive end. He playedcollege football atArkansas and was selected by theNew England Patriots in the fourth round of the2015 NFL draft. Flowers has also played for theDetroit Lions andMiami Dolphins.
Flowers attended Columbia High School inHuntsville, Alabama.[2] He was ranked byRivals.com as a three-star recruit.[3] He originally committed toGeorgia Tech to playcollege football but changed to theUniversity of Arkansas.[4] Flowers also playedbasketball in high school.
Flowers played in all 13 games with three starts as atrue freshman in 2011, recording 28 totaltackles, 5.5tackles for loss and asack.[5]
As a sophomore in 2012, Flowers started all 13 games, recording 50 total tackles, 13 tackles for loss, and six sacks.[6]
Flowers started 11 games as a junior in 2013, missing one due to injury. He finished the year with 44 total tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, and five sacks.[7] He also recorded aninterception and three forcedfumbles. After his junior season, Flowers considered entering the2014 NFL draft and received a third-round draft grade from theNFL Draft Advisory Board, but he eventually chose to return to Arkansas for his senior year.[8][9][10]
In his last season playing for the Razorbacks, Flowers led the team in tackles for loss and sacks, respectively with 15.5 and six. He finished his collegiate career with 190 tackles, 47.5 tackles for loss, 18 sacks, an interception, 13passes defended, and four forced fumbles.[11]
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft2+1⁄8 in (1.88 m) | 266 lb (121 kg) | 34+1⁄4 in (0.87 m) | 10 in (0.25 m) | 4.85 s | 1.63 s | 2.82 s | 4.40 s | 7.26 s | 36.5 in (0.93 m) | 10 ft 1 in (3.07 m) | 28 reps | |
| All values fromNFL Combine/Pro Day[12][13][14] | ||||||||||||
At the 2015NFL Combine, Flowers was a top performer in thevertical andbroad jump.
TheNew England Patriots selected Flowers in the fourth round (101st overall) of the2015 NFL draft. The pick used to draft him was acquired from theTampa Bay Buccaneers along with tight endTim Wright in exchange forLogan Mankins.[15] In the first preseason game against theGreen Bay Packers, Flowers sackedAaron Rodgers but later left the game with a shoulder injury.[16] Flowers made the Patriots 53-man roster but was only active for one game before being placed oninjured reserve on December 1, 2015.[17]
After missing most of his rookie season due to injury, Flowers had a breakout season in 2016. During a Week 8 41–25 road victory theBuffalo Bills, he recorded his first two NFL sacks on quarterbacksTyrod Taylor andEJ Manuel while tacking on five tackles.[18] Flowers played in all 16 regular season games starting in the final eight, finishing the season leading the team in sacks with seven, all coming in the last nine games of the season. He also led the team with 2.5 sacks in the Patriots' 34–28 overtime victory inSuper Bowl LI over theAtlanta Falcons on February 5, 2017.[19] These included the crucial second down sack with 3:55 to go in the fourth quarter that helped push the Falcons out of field goal range, allowing the Patriots to tie the game on the following possession, completing their 25-point comeback.[20]
After a breakout season in 2016, Flowers began the way he ended the previous season, recording two sacks in the season-opening 42–27 loss to theKansas City Chiefs.[21] Despite suffering a rib injury Week 12 against theMiami Dolphins, Flowers started 14 games and led the team with 6.5 sacks. Flowers helped the Patriots reachSuper Bowl LII, but the team lost 41–33 to thePhiladelphia Eagles with Flowers recording five tackles in the Super Bowl.
During Week 1 against theHouston Texans, Flowers had 5 tackles and 1.5 sacks. In the next game against theJacksonville Jaguars, he forced a fumble but was later ruled out of the game after suffering a concussion. Flowers finished the season with 57 tackles, 7.5 sacks, and three forced fumbles. The Patriots beat both theLos Angeles Chargers and Chiefs to reachSuper Bowl LIII where they defeated theLos Angeles Rams 13–3.[22] Flowers had three tackles in the game.[23]
On March 14, 2019, Flowers signed a five-year, $90 million deal with theDetroit Lions.[24][25] The signing reunited Flowers with former Patriots wide receiverDanny Amendola, who signed with the Lions three days earlier, alongside former defensive coordinatorMatt Patricia, who became the Lions' head coach in the prior season.In Week 3 against thePhiladelphia Eagles, Flowers recorded a team high eight tackles and sackedCarson Wentz once as the Lions won 27–24.[26] Three weeks later, Flowers was called for two controversial and costly hands to the face penalties onMonday Night Football in a narrow 22–23 loss to theGreen Bay Packers.[27]Two weeks later against theNew York Giants, Flowers recorded a season high two sacks onDaniel Jones in the 31–26 victory.[28]
In Week 1 against theChicago Bears, Flowers recorded his first sack of the season onMitchell Trubisky during the 27–23 loss.[29]In Week 6 against theJacksonville Jaguars, Flowers recorded a strip sack onGardner Minshew which was recovered by the Lions during the 34–16 victory.[30] Flowers was placed on injured reserve on November 2 after suffering an injury in Week 8.[31]
On December 4, 2021, Flowers was placed on injured reserve.
On March 16, 2022, the Lions released Flowers.[32]
On August 28, 2022, theMiami Dolphins signed Flowers.[33] On October 19, 2022, Flowers was placed on injured reserve.[34]
On August 8, 2023, Flowers signed with theNew England Patriots.[35] He was placed on the reserve/PUP list to start the season.[36][37] The Patriots then released Flowers on October 24.[38]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Won theSuper Bowl | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | Sfty | PD | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 2015 | NE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | NE | 16 | 8 | 45 | 23 | 22 | 7.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 0 |
| 2017 | NE | 14 | 14 | 62 | 45 | 17 | 6.5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | NE | 15 | 15 | 57 | 32 | 25 | 7.5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | DET | 15 | 15 | 51 | 33 | 18 | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | DET | 7 | 5 | 22 | 12 | 10 | 2.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 2021 | DET | 7 | 7 | 24 | 15 | 9 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 75 | 64 | 261 | 160 | 101 | 31.5 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 0 | |
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | Sfty | PD | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 2015 | NE | 0 | 0 | DNP | ||||||||||||||
| 2016 | NE | 3 | 3 | 16 | 6 | 10 | 2.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | NE | 3 | 3 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | NE | 3 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 9 | 9 | 39 | 21 | 18 | 5.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |