Tuesday Patriots Notebook 4/21: Solder Reveals Cancer Scare, Brady Declined to Help RGIII, More Notes

Solder was reportedly diagnoses with testicular cancer before the start of last season.

It's often forgotten that football players are real people off the field and undergo the same trials and tribulations as the fans who follow them, and there was a scary reminder of that this morning regarding left tackle Nate Solder.

According to a report this morning by ESPN Boston's Mike Reiss, the veteran was diagnosed and treated for testicular cancer prior to the 2014 season. Solder, who told Reiss there was no history of it in his family, credits a routine physical for finding it. Doctors reportedly found that it was restricted to only one testicle and hadn't spread, and removed it.

"I knew nothing about it. It was a complete surprise," Solder told Reiss. "You Google something like that and it kind of scares you, so I was like, 'I'm not going to freak out about this.' Had I not had a routine physical, I probably wouldn't have checked it, saying, 'Oh, it's just in my head, I'm going to be fine.'"

Solder's experience is a reminder that things like that can happen to anyone, with the Patriots left tackle coming forward now due to the fact April is national Testicular Cancer Awareness month and wanted to get his story out there.

RGIII: BRADY 'DECLINED TO PROVIDE HIM ANY TIPS'

An interesting note in the Washington Post this morning with an article on quarterback Robert Griffin III and his experience last year practicing against the Patriots in training camp.

According to the article, Griffin said that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady 'declined to provide him any tips on how to become a better player' when the two teams held three days of joint practices in Richmond last year leading up to their preseason game, although the signal-caller claims the experience of seeing how New England operates under Bill Belichick was a learning experience.

"For us to see that, as the Washington Redskins — to see exactly where it starts, and then to see the result — that's big," Griffin told the newspaper. "We can't ignore that. We don't need to mimic them or try to be like them. We need to create our own culture — but we can learn from some of those things."

ADDTIONAL NOTES:

- The Patriots began their offseason workout program on Monday at Gillette Stadium, with Tom Brady reportedly the first in attendance, setting the tone for a team that's looking to follow-up their 2014 Super Bowl-winning campaign. The workouts go in three stages, with players allowed to do conditioning drills without instruction from staff in Stage 1, while Stage 2, which begins on May 4th, they can work with coaches both individually and with the team but without live contact and no full-team drills. Stage 3 will involve organized team activities and minicamp, which is always one of the bright spots of the offseason before the start of training camp.

- The 2015 schedule will be announced on Tuesday, which will be released at 8pm on NFL Network. Fans will find out who the Patriots will open the season against in what will be a Thursday night match-up on September 10th, giving them a nice stretch of days off following the match-up before they play their second regular season game. Some of the potential match-ups involve a potential visit by Rex Ryan and the Buffalo Bills, as well as the Pittsburgh Steelers, Darrelle Revis and the Jets, or Philadelphia. We'll find out tonight for certain.

- Former Patriots running back Shane Vereen will be re-joining the team this week when New England visits the White House on Thursday, and he's looking forward to to the event. "Yeah, very excited, very excited," Vereen said Monday on a conference call with Giants reporters via ESPN New York. "It always has been something I've wanted to do, and now I can check it off my bucket list. I'm looking forward to meeting the president."

- Down in Texas J.J. Watt is enjoying his time with former Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork. Watt told John McClain of the Houston Chronicle that he's liked what he's seen from the big defensive tackle, and he's looking forward to having the chance to play with him. "I'm looking forward to playing on the line with him because he's very good at what he does and he commands respect from every team," Watt said Monday. "He's a very experienced guy who's had a lot of success in this league." The two have apparently had some conversations and Watt says they're excited about what they can do on the field together. "Vince and I have been talking for quite a while," Watt said. "We're excited about what we can potentially do (together). He's extremely good at what he does, and I'm real excited about it. It's going to be great for our young guys to have that veteran leadership."

- An interesting note from the Boston Herald's Jeff Howe, who has some additional details on the recent contract signed by Patriots running back Stevan Ridley. According to Howe Ridley has a sizeable portion of his contract tied to incentives, which makes sense given the fact he's coming off of a torn ACL last season. He reportedly has a base salary of $750,000, an $80,000 signing bonus and $50,000 workout bonus. He also earns $20,000 if he is on the 53-man roster for the first game of the season, as well as a $350,000 roster bonus ($21,875 per game on the 46-man roster).