FOXBOROUGH – While veteran players are off on vacation for the next five weeks until training camp starts, Patriots rookies will be sticking around for a while.
There’s still a lot to learn in a short amount of time. Following Tuesday’s final official mandatory minicamp practice, the Pats’ most important rookie – left tackle Will Campbell – was asked about what these next few weeks will look like for him as he continues to assimilate into New England.
“Rookies, we’re still going to be here. We’ll be working. We don’t go home until a couple weeks,” he explained. “So, just trying to get better at everything. Just coming back and being a better player than I am today is the biggest thing I can do to help this team moving forward.”
Part of getting better and more comfortable is continuing to develop strong relationships with new offensive line coach Doug Marrone, someone he’s known since high school.
“It’s been great,” Campbell said when asked specifically about Marrone. “I know I’ve said it before, but you know, Coach Marrone…he recruited me at Alabama. We’ve got a great group in the offensive line room. They (coaches) have helped me and all the other guys a lot learning the new system that we’re in, the new techniques. Staying with us whenever we need to, they’ve all been great.”
Perhaps even more important is getting on the same page with his new OC Josh McDaniels, who Campbell said he’s also enjoyed working with quite a bit so far.
“He’s intense, but you know he’s an O-line guy,” Campbell said with a smile. “I was able to meet him on my 30 visit here. He’s obviously got a great resume and being able to play for him is an honor.”
Another key component in Campbell’s growth has been Morgan Moses, who was basically a player coach for the group as well. Whether it’s BC’s Jack Conley, Campbell, Mike Onwenu, or anyone else who wants to sit under the learning tree, anytime you look for Moses after practice, he’s been coaching guys up and passing lessons down that he’s learned as an NFL vet.
Campbell has been soaking every bit of it up.
“No doubt, I think whenever you’re a rookie, at any position, you look for a guy that you know can come in and has done it the right way since he’s been in the league,” said Campbell. “Proven himself and is a great person that you can latch onto. He’s just been, you know, great to me. Not only me, but all the guys in the room and that goes for guys like Garrett (Bradbury), Big Mike (Onwenu) too. We have a lot of guys who have played a lot of football in our room and they’ve been very helpful to the young guys.
“Even the young guys that are in their second year, just helping them in anyway they can. Just giving us bits and pieces of advice that they can. It’s been really cool.”
So far, so good for the (hopeful) cornerstone of the O-line for the next decade.