It’s that time of year again, with quite a few New England Patriots players starting their preparation for the upcoming season.
Monday was officially the first day of the 2022 offseason program for the Patriots, which saw some notable names return to Gillette Stadium, including quarterback Mac Jones. Jones was all smiles as he rolled a large bag into the stadium while carrying a giant bottle of water. The second-year quarterback appears a little leaner and stronger than he was in his first season, with several months worth of work this offseason already clearly showing some results.
https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1516094497888813063
Also appearing in the above tweet by the Patriots were linebacker Josh Uche, who said on Friday he was excited about getting back to work, as well as defensive back Malcolm Butler and running back Damien Harris. Receiver Kendrick Bourne also said in a recent video where he had purchased a house for his parents that he was also looking forward to joining his teammates to start getting ready for the upcoming season.
No word yet on exactly who will be on hand but the players who have shown up so far all seem to be in good spirits. The overall vibe of the team appears to be positive with the key piece of the puzzle, being Jones, being a player that pretty much everyone on the roster raved about last season. The former standout at Alabama quickly took over the team after being named the starter, but over the course of the year he built a great relationship with everyone in the locker room over the course of last season.
The players who will be around over the next two weeks will mostly be working on their strength and conditioning, allowing them to start prepping for the minicamps and subsequent OTAs that will follow the NFL Draft. From there, according to the team’s website, the first mandatory minicamp for all players will run from June 7-9.
This year will obviously have a different feel to it, as last preseason there was quite a bit of uncertainty around the quarterback position, which ultimately led to a training camp competition that unfolded between Cam Newton and Jones, who was obviously a rookie. But the first-year quarterback held his own and handled everything the coaching staff threw it him, with his consistent approach being one of the key traits that helped him emerge with the starting role.
Now that approach will likely be something current and new players will follow, as one year later, he’s quietly emerged as one of the leaders of this Patriots team heading into 2022.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
