At the tail end of Patriots practice Tuesday, a player exited the field carrying his shoulder pads and helmet in one hand and a small thank-you note written on white Patriots stationery in the other. He handed the note to a woman who was working security outside the friends and family tent here at Patriots training camp, on the fields right outside Gillette Stadium, and thanked her for all she was doing.
Clearly a bit emotional, she tucked the note inside her pocket and resumed her duties, which included making sure no one was filming practice during nondesignated periods.
This random act of kindness was not an isolated incident, apparently.
Our training camp notes from New England begin here, where the Patriots are enjoying a pleasantly anonymous training camp. The roster is devoid of attention-grabbing, superstar talent (something out of a Bill Belichick fever dream). Players say the offensive install under new (and old) coordinator Bill O’Brien is running smoothly. And, outside of the impending arrival of Beyoncé, who was playing here a few hours after practice on this Tuesday, it would be difficult to compare this atmosphere to the kind of A-list affair it had become during the latter years of the Tom Brady era. That doesn’t seem like a bad thing, especially for a coach who has prided group anonymity over the years, even when success made that somewhat impossible.
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So, why not use the quiet time to create some good vibes?
Inspired by a TikTok trend where strangers hand out notes of encouragement, affirmations, love or appreciation, Patriots players have been spending the past few practices sharing their own notes with the groundskeeping staff and the security staff, among others. One security official planned to get the note framed. It has become a way to learn about the life stories of those who would have only a fleeting interaction or two with members of the team. And though the idea came from TikTok, the team has been intentional about not using these interactions to make shareable content.
While this isn’t your typical training camp observation, it does provide a small window into where the Patriots are. The initiative seems to be gaining some momentum among players, and people are leaving work with smiles on their faces.
• Mac Jones seemed to be in a stalemate with the Patriots’ defense Tuesday, which is promising given that New England may have arguably the best secondary in the NFL this year. The Patriots’ linebacking core flashed its athleticism, notably fifth-year veteran Mack Wilson, who was swarming on Jones when he tried to work the middle of the field.
Still, Jones got the best of the defense on at least one play we’ll remember from the afternoon: completing a pass to DeVante Parker over first-round draft pick Christian Gonzalez. Gonzalez looked perfect in coverage and had Parker boxed out near the sideline. Still, Parker elevated and seemed to come down with the ball one-handed.
• New Patriots tight end Mike Gesicki said one difference between his new offense and the one he played in last year under Mike McDaniel in Miami is versatility. Gesicki said the Dolphins usually kept players a bit more stationary, whereas now he’s being forced to learn the offense conceptually. It seems to illustrate a divide between coaches who want to play faster (McDaniel) versus coaches who may want to accentuate more matchup-based victories.
“[I want to] come out here not only knowing my responsibility but everyone else’s,” Gesicki says. “In this offense you can play a bunch of different spots. So [it’s about] being able to be versatile, go out there and make the most of your opportunities.
“In [Miami’s] offense, we weren’t really changing. Personnel didn’t bounce around as much.”
• I asked Gesicki, who has handled some pretty heavy snap count totals as an all-around tight end (60% or more of Miami’s snaps from 2019 to ’21), whether a lot of the discourse around running backs being underpaid now also applies to the tight end position. Both positions are intricately tied into the blocking scheme and the passing game, and represent a huge market inefficiency. The Ravens, for example, stockpile tight ends because they are nearly as valuable as both offensive linemen and wide receivers for a fraction of the top-end price tag.
“I think, if you look around the league, a guy like Travis Kelce absolutely deserves more money,” he says. “But that’s just how the market has kind of gone. But if you go out there and you make enough plays, establish your value, you’ll be all right.”
