Courtesy of the New England Patriots/Patriots Place
The Patriots officially kick off training camp on Wednesday with their first official practice.
Here are some things to look for as the Patriots kick off their 65th season of football in New England.
Mayo era begins: The Jerod Mayo era begins in Foxboro. After 24 years of Bill Belichick and the greatest run in NFL history, the Patriots are going in a new direction with Mayo and Executive Director of Football Operations Eliot Wolf.
When asked what he thought would be a successful season on Tuesday, Mayo focused on progress.
“A successful season, in my eyes, is really about the foundation. Have we put together a good foundation of a combination of young and older players to really start competing? It would be great to get up here and say we’re going to win a Super Bowl, but once again, it’s about the process. I tell the guys all the time, it’s about process and progress and moving forward.”
Competition: Mayo stresses competition. He has throughout the spring and he did in his opening press conference of training camp. Every coach in football stresses it but how the practices are run determines how much competition we truly see. I think we will see a lot of competitive situations in this camp. More than usual.
Here are five camp battles to watch:
Drake Maye vs. Jacoby Brissett: Don’t let the Patriots fool you. This is a quarterback competition. They can preach patience all they want with Maye but if he has a strong camp and outperforms Jacoby Brissett, he will be the starter. Brissett is the starter going into camp. Now he needs to hold onto the job.
Chuks Okorafor vs. Caedan Wallace at left tackle: Mayo said Okorafor is the veteran and he has the advantage heading into training camp. That is true, but Wallace is certainly good enough to challenge him at left tackle and win the job despite being a right tackle most of his college career.
Guard: Cole Strange is out to start training camp and he will miss a portion of the regular season as well. That leaves free agent additions Nick Leverett, and Liam Fornadel along with second year guards Sidy Sow, Atonio Mafi, Jake Andrews (When he returns from the PUP list) and rookies Layden Robinson, the aforementioned Caedan Wallace and Charles Turner to compete for two spots. Michael Onwenu will also rep at guard as well. The Patriots have depth, now they need to find two guards until Cole Strange comes back.
Field Corner: Jonathan Jones should be the starter opposite Christian Gonzalez but he should expect some competition on the outside. Alex Austin, Isaiah Bolden and rookie Marcellus Dial will all have shot at either starting or getting plenty of playing time. The Patriots like size at cornerback and all three of these guys would be bigger than Jones. Jones is better suited inside as the nickel. Same goes for Marcus Jones.
Wide receiver: The Patriots have 12 wide receivers for six spots in essence. Kendrick Bourne, Ja’Lynn Polk, Javon Baker, Demario Douglas, K.J Osborn and JuJu Smith-Schuster appear to be your locks. The rest of the receivers will have to compete and prove that they fit the system and can also contribute on special teams. The competition at receiver will last all camp.
Players starting on PUP:
G Cole Strange, WR Kendrick Bourne, LB Sione Takitaki, and G/C Jake Andrews. The team also placed RB Antonio Gibson on the active/non-football injury list. All five players can be removed at anytime begin practicing.
Scheme watch:
The offense early on will not look very different but as the season goes on, you will notice a difference. The Patriots are now running the west coast offense. It is the Mike McCarthy, Kevin Stefanski version but expect a lot of inside and outside zone, duo and play-action and nakeds off those running plays. The Patriots will also be aggressive vertically in the passing game.
Defensively, do not expect many changes. The Patriots will still be multiple in terms of fronts and personnel. They will also play a lot of defensive backs. Nickel and variations off of it will be there number one personnel grouping. One thing I would expect. More blitzing. Look for the Patriots to be more aggressive.
Camp roster:
Coaching Staff:
