By Ava Fernandez NEFJ Correspondent FOXBOROUGH – Just a few weeks after graduating college, I found myself standing on the sidelines at Patriots minicamp on Tuesday, roster and notes in hand, covering an NFL team for the first time as I begin my post-graduate career in sports media. It’s been just 23 days since earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, with a sports concentration, from UMass Amherst. From selling my…

FOXBOROUGH – To say there was a game day-like buzz in Foxborough on Tuesday would be a massive understatement. What was originally just a typical OTA practice open to the media quickly turned into a frenzy with the AJ Brown trade happening on Monday and his subsequent arrival on Tuesday. Here’s a step-by-step account of how the first day as a Patriot went for the team’s newest WR1: -At about…

The most anticlimactic deal in the history of the NFL is complete. Wide receiver AJ Brown is a New England Patriot. Multiple sources reported the deal at about 4:20 on Monday. New England is sending a 2028 first round pick and a 2027 fifth round pick to Philadelphia in exchange for Brown. There are no changes to the contract, which means Brown is due $32 million dollars in each of…

WORCESTER – Only in New England would 10,000 people show up to a charity softball game on a miserable night weather wise. The first annual MayeDay Family Foundation Celebrity Softball Classic took place on Sunday night at a raw, rainy Polar Park. The ballpark was as full as it’s ever been and various New England Patriots players, other athletes and celebrities took part in a home run derby, accuracy throwing…

FOXBOROUGH – Upbeat, energetic, clearly eager to continue coaching the New England Patriots. That’s the easiest, simplest way to explain what Mike Vrabel was like on Wednesday before and during the team’s second OTA practice, but the first open to the media. Vrabel certainly had his fair share of longer answers in his first press conference since the draft. That was a bit noteworthy, but his passion and eagerness to…

FOXBOROUGH – The Patriots had their second OTA practice of the spring on Wednesday afternoon as the defending AFC Champs officially get some football activities going. This time of year is still considered voluntary, so there was some absences (noted below), but the majority of the team did take part in the light practice that lasted a little over an hour and a half. Here’s what stood out… -Absences included…

Back to (semi) normal football coverage on Wednesday. The first official voluntary OTA is slated for mid-afternoon down in Foxborough, with Mike Vrabel set to meet the media at 11:30 and then Drake Maye, Rhamondre Stevenson and Milton Williams slated to speak following practice around 2:00 p.m. While the crap storm that has been the offseason for Vrabel will certainly come up on Wednesday, once he speaks before the first…