Jerry Does Patriots OTAs. The Quest for the 7th Ring Has Officially Begun

OTAs. Organized Team Activities. The common misnomer is that the “O” stands for “Optional,” since that is in fact what they are from a collectively bargained standpoint. But for some of us, the reality is, there is nothing optional about it. Maybe if you’ve won six Super Bowls, you can stay home and enjoy a nice kale smoothie after a rigorous resistance band workout. But when you’re trying to make the team, get used to new teammates and a revamped coaching staff, these activities are very much mandatory.

And this year, the same goes for me. I’m feeling the pressure as much as anybody. I can’t afford to rest on my laurels. I’m not satisfied with a million All Pro-worthy Pats blogs. Boston Barstool is a high-competition pressure cooker that requires your best at all times. Rear Admiral is full time now. Greenie saved his job. Carrabis is a media star. Dave and Feits are a constant presence on the Patriots beat. So you’ve got to work it. Every day. Every practice. Every rep. And today that meant getting down to the field and getting better.

Beginning with once again confronting the head guy and demanding answers:

You’re welcome. I do it for the public. Democracy dies in darkness.

So a few other observations:

–The first thing you noticed after practice was all the players and coaches wearing Bruins hats. Belichick’s first remarks (before we talked ageless Jersey rockers and higher education) was about the Bs and how much they’re all supporting them. He took a hard pass on a fairly innocuous question trying to confirm that what Bruce Cassidy said about asking the Pats how best to deal with a long playoff layover, but my guess is he just wanted to keep the focus on the Bruins and not take credit for their success. Regardless, it was a great gesture and one of the pure joys of being a Masshole in this era. The four teams supporting each other’s winning is the second best thing after the actual winning.

–During goal line drills, they blasted an assortment of Geezer Rock that was basically the playlist that every Baby Boomer from Weymouth who wears a denim jacket and a bandana listens to in his Dodge Charger. “Crazy Train.” “Baba O’Reilly.” “Welcome to the Jungle.” For Those About to Rock.”. With one of the equipment guys blaring it up to 11 every time the offense came to the line like your most asshole buddy does when you’re in mid-sentence because it’s his car and he gets to control the knobs. You hear all the time that they do this before a loud road game – and in “3 Games to Glory IV” you hear them piping the sound of Arrowhead Stadium into practice before the AFCCG. But doing it in May just shows the attention to detail around here.

–If a petition to get a redo of “Game of Thrones S8″ can get over 600,000 signatures, am I out of line if I start one to get “Crazy Train” removed from the Pats game presentation? It’s been played out for at least 15 years, and I’m being kind.

–Once again Belichick (Dr. Belichick? I’m considering it) is messing with the league with respect to uniform numbers. If you don’t remember, he used to have just blank practice jerseys at this time of year in order to force his players and coaches to get to know each other by name. Like a corporate team building exercise with no “Hell My Name is” stickers. But someone in the NFL decided that was cheating somehow, so they forced him to slap some kind of number on everyone’s back. Like last year, the drafted rookies all get them starting with 50 and working up, in the order they were selected. So N’Keal Harry has 50, Joejuan Williams is 51, Chase Winovich is 52, and so on. The best FU is probably Jamie Collins sporting number 8, which was probably his number at Southern Miss, but makes him look like the most athletic quarterback in human history. Still the whole demand from the league is so utterly ridiculous that I appreciate the equally ridiculous passive/aggressive response. Hopefully by camp we’ll see guys wearing fractions, decimals, square roots and quadratic equations.

–For what it’s worth, Harry looked legit, catching passes off a variety of routes in 11-on-11s. Watching him develop in camp as the competition ramps up will be as big a part of my summer as golfing and insobriety.

–In goal line drills, I got my first look at Jarrett Stidham. Granted, from about a 100 yards away because they were on the far field. And I saw a lot of passes hit the ground. One that didn’t was a terrible throw to the flat that Joejuan William got his head around on and picked off. Williams also broke up a pass. But since Williams means a hell of a lot more to our immediate future than Stidham, I consider that a win.

–Now here’s a sentence you don’t type very often. Or speak. Or think: I’m going to be interested in watching the punter they drafted. They actually moved up to grab Jake Bailey out of Stanford in the 5th, which seemed laughable right up until the time I saw at least five returners drop his punts. Julian Edelman, Phillip Dorsett, Rex Burkhead and one of the rookies all put the ball on the ground. Granted, it was about a 2-club wind out there and they haven’t had much practice. But this kid might just have a natural, for lack of a better word, knuckle to his kicks that makes them hard to handle? Maybe? We’ll see in late July.

–More attention to detail: They ran a drill where they practiced blocking kick by shooting through the C-G gap, hopping a 6-inch high handle on the ground and then elevating, while Bailey flipped a soccer ball at them. As a matter of fact, they use more soccer balls than I did that one time I had to coach a soccer practice of 7-year-olds and I just told every kid they could be forwards because I wanted them to like me and soccer is stupid. I guess for some drills you work your way up to a real football, the way Patches O’Houlihan would throw a wrench at your head to teach you Dodgeball.

–Two alumni who were on the field working were Troy Brown and Kevin Faulk. On one rep, WR Damoun Patterson put a move on Brown in coverage that made Brown drop and do punishment pushups. You know that kid who graduated before you who would come back to visit the school and you knew he was just trying to relive his glory days and it was sad pathetic? This is the opposite of that. These two are Pats Hall of Famers who have kept on living here and are doing just fine for themselves. And to have two of the most beloved overachievers in team history giving up their free time to pass on what they know should just get you in the feels.

–Winovich is the relentless ball of energy he’s been advertised to be. He’s going to impossible to miss on the field come camp. I’ll die before I’ll ever wish a summer away. But this gave me a lot to look forward to when that time comes. And not just hanging with Dr. Belichick again.