FOXBOROUGH – A few minutes after 1 P.M. on Thursday afternoon, the newest tight end on the Patriots stepped to the podium inside the media work room to take questions for the first time since signing with the team.
“Kind of narrow down your options, figure out the best one for you and I felt like this was the best spot for me to land. I’m excited to be here,” Gesicki said when asked about his decision to sign in New England. “Obviously, I have a little bit of history against this organization for the last five years and have a ton of respect for the way things are run around here and the tradition, all that kind of stuff that is the New England Patriots. I thought it was a good opportunity for me to come here and learn from a couple other guys in the tight end room and a great coaching staff. Good opportunity and I’m happy to be here.”
One of those tight ends he’ll be joining is Hunter Henry. Henry and Gesicki could be the next dynamic TE duo here in Foxborough and that’s something he’s looking forward to.
“I’ve known Hunter dating back a couple years,” he said. “It’s definitely cool now to be in the same room as him and learning a couple nuances of how he runs routes, how he prepares and just goes about his business. Obviously, this is year eight for him, so he’s had a lot of success in this league and done things the right way. So, anything I can pick up from him, it’s been good and he’s been a great teammate.”
Of course, Gesicki was recruited by Bill O’Brien when he was at Penn State, which played a big role in his decision making process to join the Patriots.
“It’s cool,” Gesicki said. “It’s kind of that relationship from when he recruited me way back when – when I was in high school – kind of picking back up where we left off. But, it’s awesome. O-B is awesome, cool dude, really excited to kind of get to gel with him, get in this offense and get to work.”
While Gesicki hasn’t been able to work a ton with his new quarterback (quarterbacks?) too much, his initial impressions of both Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe have been positive ones.
“Really cool dude,” he said of Jones. “Cool personality. I love the energy and kind of the juice he brings out to some throwing sessions. All that kind of stuff. Then, obviously, great arm, accurate. All that kind of stuff. Make sure I check all the boxes because I know everyone’s going to want to talk about it, but he’s awesome. I’m really excited to continue working with him. It’s been good…same thing (with Zappe), Bailey’s awesome. Love just talking with him, getting to know everybody. All the quarterbacks are great. Everybody’s been very welcoming, so, it’s been really exciting to kind of get to know everybody.”
Gesicki was calm, cool, collected and quite mellow in his 11ish minutes speaking with reporters. It appears he’s going to bring a calming demeanor to the locker room that could be helpful and is also something he takes pride in.
“I try to pride myself on just being a good dude, personable guy,” he added. “Just coming in here, getting to know everybody, build camaraderie, show that I’m going to work hard and earn everybody’s trust that way. Obviously, I was at my previous employment for five years and now here with a whole new setup and new facilities, all that kind of stuff. So, just kind of getting used to it. Trying to earn everybody’s trust so this way, when things get rolling and the season starts up, everyone knows what they’re going to get out of me.”