Like the rest of the world, the NFL has needed to adapt to COVID-19 and work remotely.
With the NFL Draft getting underway Thursday night, for the Patriots the entire operation has shifted from Gillette Stadium to the homes of coaches, executives and scouts. The IT department has done everything they can to make it as seamless of a transition as possible.
(Read this Patriots.com story by Erik Scalavino for more on that.)
Speaking to team reporter Megan O'Brien on Patriots.com, director of player personnel Nick Caserio detailed how everything has gone.
"Our team has done a great job," he said. "There's a lot of people that have enabled us to have the daily production that we've had. We've had a number of draft meetings. I would say on a daily basis we've had a lot of discussions, a lot of dialogue. Instead of doing it live with one another, we've just been doing it through our connection.
"We're able to get to a number of people. We've had a lot of contact with a lot of different players. We've tried to replicate our process as best we can into the setting we're dealing with and just try and make the most of our opportunities that are in front of us each day, and really take it one day at a time. I would say we've been able to accumulate a lot of information, or a similar amount of information, we're just doing it in a different fashion. From that perspective, it has been fairly efficient.
"Like I said, our IT people have done a great job giving us resources and the tools to operate. We have everything that we need to go about our process on a daily basis. We're getting close to the end, but we're collectively in a pretty good position overall."
The Patriots have the No. 23 overall pick and then have 12 overall selections, the second-most in the entire NFL.
