One of the latest hot topics surrounding the Patriots is the use of virtual reality gadgets being used as teaching tools, particularly for the quarterbacks. The development of Drake Maye is obviously the most important thing that happens this season regardless of the team’s record. Assuming Jacoby Brissett is in fact the Day 1 starter until the team feels Maye is ready, reps will probably be hard to come by…

The second stage of the Jerod Mayo wrapped up on Tuesday and fittingly, it was the defense having its best day so far. Step 1 was the draft, Step 2 was rookie minicamp and voluntary OTA’s. The OTA part of the schedule wrapped up with the final session before mandatory minicamp starts next week. This one was the most competitive yet (out of three with no pads on, important to…

FOXBOROUGH – On another perfect day for some football in May, the Pats were back in front of the media for the second time during the voluntary portion of OTA’s on Wednesday. The team has two more voluntary days scheduled that we’ll be able to report on before mandatory minicamp June 10-12. This near-two hour session was quite entertaining by OTA standards. As always, here’s everything I saw while sitting…

Dont’a Hightower still has that presence. Once one of the best linebackers in the league, now he walks around OTA’s with a visor on, but it’s hard to miss him at any point. As he stood in front of a microphone holding a cup of something in his hand (I couldn’t see what it was) before another day of work on Tuesday morning, you could just tell how much he…

After a week and a few days behind closed doors, the Pats will be back in front of the media on Wednesday for the second open OTA. New England has two more open voluntary OTA practices after this one for us to get a glimpse and report on how things are looking early on under Jerod Mayo before mandatory minicamp June 10, 11 & 12. Jacoby Brissett and Bailey Zappe…

While fans worry and debate just how much talent the offense has, it’s safe to say that the Patriots defense is still pretty loaded. Barmore, Godchaux, Judon, Dugger, Bentley, Uche, Gonzalez. There’s some pretty big names on that side of the ball who could (and should) have a big say in how long or quick this turnaround is. But, there’s another name that both fans and media alike aren’t talking…

Initially, when the Patriots decided to ‘transition tag’ safety Kyle Dugger this offseason instead of giving him the outright franchise tag, it felt like the organization was making things more tense and unnecessarily difficult. Ultimately, a deal was reached and Kyle Dugger received a phone call while on the treadmill. Now, he’s got a new four-year, $58 million contract extension that keeps him as one of the foundational pieces and…

FOXBOROUGH – The first voluntary OTA of the Jerod Mayo was Monday afternoon in Foxborough and we got our first look at the new-look Patriots. Heres’ what stood out during the two-hour session: -Rookie guard Ryan Johnson was the first player to hit the field at about 11:35, wearing No. 75. -Matt Judon, Anfernee Jennings, Josh Uche, Zury Henry and Davon Godchaux were not in attendance. Kendrick Bourne, Cole Strange…

If you look at the Patriots roster handed out for Day 1 of OTA’s on Monday, you’d see a whopping 31 coaches listed down the bottom of the large sheet of paper. While the number may seem staggering, it really isn’t in today’s NFL. The only reason it looks and feels that way to folks around here is because of how small the Bill Belichick staffs were for the last…

Days before the Patriots have their first OTA practice on Monday, Jacoby Brissett met with the media on Thursday for the first time since signing back with his first team. Brissett has been labeled as just a mentor for Drake Maye. While he wants to compete and win games, Brissett also is confused as to why people believe that’s a bad thing. “When I was here the first time…you realize…