How Patriots veterans handle the first day of training camp
"I think it's big to just come into each training camp and go to work for a job."
David Andrews has some advice for the rookies preparing for their first NFL training camp.
“Relax. Take a deep breath,” the Patriots offensive lineman said. “It will be alright.”
Easy for him to say. Andrews is an established presence in front of Tom Brady, but what about the players staring down the series of roster cuts to come? The fourth-year center hasn’t forgotten his early days in the league. In a media availability at Gillette Stadium ahead of camp opening Thursday, Andrews recalled his initial struggle to climb the learning curve.
“It can get overwhelming and I think that’s what you’ve got to try to do, is not let it overwhelm you,” he said. “There’s going to be stuff you don’t know. You’re going to mess up, but it’s not making those continuous mistakes and things like that.”
Andrew noted how important it will be for the Patriots to mesh as a team, grow together, and ensure those mistakes don’t happen as often moving forward. His approach to this training camp won’t differ from the day-by-day mindset he brought to head coach Bill Belichick’s summer workouts in years past.
“I think it’s big to just come into each training camp and go to work for a job,” Andrews said. “I think if you look at it like that, with that competitiveness and non-complacency, if you look at it in those ways, I think it’s going to work out the best for you.”
Matthew Slater is another Patriot who can speak to the challenges of that first camp with perspective granted by his veteran status. The special teams specialist compared the opening of camp to the first day of school, but this time around, he’s taking a moment to smell the roses before sprinting through the classroom doors.
“As a player, oftentimes you don’t really take the time to pause and realize how blessed you are to be living out many of our childhood dreams,” Slater said. “I think as a young player, you’re so caught up in trying to do everything you can to stick around and make the team and you don’t really take pause to take time and do that.”
The 32-year-old was quick to add he’s still very much caught up in those things as well. His experience has simply given him a chance to step back and remember his occupation.
“Hey, I play a game for a living,” he said. “I’m not out fighting fires, I’m not out on the battlefield, I’m playing football and we really are blessed.”
Slater plans to pass those lessons on to the rookies and younger players, knowing full well that the business side of the game is at the back of everyone’s mind. Thirty-seven of the 90 players on the roster Thursday will not be with the team when it takes the field against the Houston Texans in Week 1.
One player that will almost definitely be alongside Slater in September is Devin McCourty. The two-time Pro Bowl safety acknowledged that “no one loves training camp,” but McCourty need only look at his ring collection to remind himself why they embrace the the challenge. Now in his ninth NFL season, McCourty’s focus during camp has expanded.
“You know, I think when I was young, I was just always worried about how I was going to fit in, what I needed to do to be better,” he said. “I think now, as you get older, you kind of think more as a team concept of, ‘How do I get everyone on the same page?’”
The safety wants that process to start sooner rather than later. Gates open at Gillette Stadium at 8:15 a.m.
