Image courtesy of the New England Patriots

FOXBOROUGH – On Monday morning before the first game week practice of 2025, Patriots players voted for captains.

After the initial stretch period, Mike Vrabel called the team up for the usual pre-practice breakdown/talk, but this one was a little different. Vrabel told the team the six players that had been voted as leaders for the year, with each guy getting a quick ovation from teammates and coaches.

One of those players that received the honor was one of the key free agents Vrabel and the staff brought in during the offseason, Harold Landry III.

Landry III spoke about the recognition at his locker following practice while being swarmed by reporters.

“It definitely means a lot,” he said. “I definitely try to be as consistent as possible with what I say, what I do and how I work. It means a lot that my teammates in here appreciate that and respect that. So, it’s definitely an honor. Definitely not going to take it for granted.”

Asked if he was surprised with the vote, Landry said he had a bit of an inkling things might go the way they did.

“I mean, I knew it was a possibility,” he acknowledged. “I’m a big…I don’t really say much, I try to lead by example. I’m just glad that my boys in here respect that and appreciate it.”

Landry was also asked to describe what he believes makes a good captain.

“I think a guy that is the same guy every day. He’s consistent and he’s a true pro. He just leads by example. He backs up what he says.”

Landry III obviously is familiar with the area, but has only been with this group of guys for a short period of time. Still, the five other captains (Drake Maye, Hunter Henry, Robert Spillane, Marcus Jones and Brendan Schooler) and the locker room as a whole already have a unique vibe about them in the locker room.

“I think we’re all different, I think we all kind of lead in different ways,” Landry said of the captains group. “Which goes a long way, because everyone has different personalities, everyone can be reached on a personal level different ways, so it’s good to have captains that go about how they want to try to achieve greatness differently, you know that I’m saying? That’s the thing that makes us unique. We’re all different, but we all have one mindset, which is to go out there to prepare to win.

“I feel like we have a good group of guys here.”