1. Bill Belichick has been coaching in some capacity in the NFL for 45 seasons and there's no doubt this summer will be the most unique. With no team activities in the spring, no preseason games and a longer ramp-up period, there won't be much time for many full-go practices before the start of the regular season. So, how will Belichick approach things? He's been on record for years saying the spring is a teaching camp and the competition doesn't start until the summer. Well, now the two are essentially combined so how will he balance that? Whether it is fair or not, how ever many full-padded practices there are will have a huge impact on who makes the roster and who doesn't. Without joint practices or preseason games, these will be the only real opportunities to compete for a roster spot and they will be weighed much more heavily than in year's past. The spring stuff will likely get jammed into the sessions without pads (roughly the first three weeks) and then once the pads come on it will be about competing (roughly two weeks). This isn't how Belichick and other coaches in the league would like things to go, but it is the reality of the situation. Teams need to make up for lost time this spring, but also build towards making a roster and being ready to compete Week 1. Belichick and Co. will need to get even more out of the sessions than they already do, as the regular season is still slated to begin Sept. 13. The players will be easing their way back into things and that will leave Belichick with no choice but to do the same.
2. Speaking of all that, it's been mentioned a great deal this past week that younger players, especially undrafted rookies, have an uphill battle when it comes to making rosters. Teams will be more apt to keep players who they know and there's tape on opposed to keeping an undrafted rookie where there's only just a few training camp practices to go on. The Patriots' streak of 16 straight seasons with a UDFA making the initial 53-man roster could be in jeopardy.
3. Sony Michel feels like one player who really benefits from how things have shaken out. Given his offseason foot surgery, there was some uncertainty if he would be ready for the start of training camp. If that were the case second-year player Damien Harris could have been given an opportunity to show what he can do, but now Michel likely won't miss anything and that makes it tougher for Harris to jump him on the depth chart. This feels like a big year for Michel to prove he's capable of being a lead NFL running back.
4. With players starting to return this week, it's likely the Patriots will send out their media guide in the coming days where we will learn the exact roles for the coaching staff. While we know many of the names, their roles are not 100 percent certain. We've heard rumblings some of the defensive coaches could be moving around a bit from the positions they were with a year ago.
5. The Tampa Bay media is following Tom Brady's every move as not only were there TV cameras on site to get a glimpse of him getting his COVID-19 test Thursday, there were helicopters following him from above. It will be interesting to see what kind of coverage he gets during training camp as it depends on how many national outlets travel to Tampa.
6. Patriots players will report to Gillette Stadium for COVID-19 tests Monday and Tuesday and then won't be allowed back in the facility until Friday or Saturday. At this point it feels like we're at least a week away (likely more) from the media actually getting a glimpse of the team on the field. In a normal year, media would be present at the first training camp practice, which would be Thursday of this week.
7. As of now, per a NFLPA email sent to players, full-padded practices will not begin until Aug. 17 and they will start at being capped at 90 minutes. There's a maximum of 14 padded practices during the contact integration period. This has the potential to lead to some ugly football the first week of the season.
