Monday kicked off Phase 3 of the Patriots voluntary offseason workout program, which includes OTAs, and a chance for the full team to work on the field at the same time.
It is the closest thing to training camp that there is, just without pads and contact, but often times this is where the foundation of the season is built.
"For everybody to improve every day, every opportunity we get," Bill Belichick said last year when asked what the objective is during OTAs. "We're working a lot of people so meetings, walkthroughs, film sessions, individual periods, team periods. We've got a lot of people to get reps to. Nobody is getting all of them. We all learn from every play and that's the stage that we're in right now."
While the majority of the focus is on the players, this year more attention should be on the coaches. With so many coaches having different roles, this is really the first time for them to communicate with the players on the field and get a good idea of how things will go come training camp and the regular season.
The coaches will be learning just as much during these sessions as the players. For Joe Judge, it's his first opportunity to be on the field as both the special teams coach and wide receivers coach. It will give him an idea of how things will go and how he should best spend his time working with both units.
And like anything else, it will be a learning process.
The same thing goes for all the new defensive coaches.
Most of them were on the field last year, they just weren't leading specific position groups. Bret Bielema will see what works best with the defensive line, Jerod Mayo and Demarcus Covington will find out how to best work their inside and outside linebackers roles, and then Mike Pellegrino will learn how to get the most out of the sessions in his new cornerbacks coaching role.
This is the time to try new things and figure out things as they come up because once training camp comes in July, it's full go.
As much as OTAs are about the players and improving for training camp and the regular season, with all these coaches in new roles, these sessions are just as important for them so they can feel confident and comfortable come the summer.
