Pats Pulpit
The voluntary portion of offseason workouts is over.
The voluntary portion of the New England Patriots’ offseason workout program is in the books. Time to ramp up the intensity one final time.
On Monday, the team of first-year head coach Mike Vrabel will start its mandatory minicamp at Gillette Stadium. For the next three days, the entirety of the available roster will be mandated to take the practice fields — a change from the first three phases of offseason workouts and organized team activities.
That change is only a theoretical one for the Patriots, however, given that they have enjoyed exemplary attendance throughout the offseason. Their most recent open OTA last week, for example, saw 84 of 90 rostered players in attendance.
At least two of those six absentees — CB Carlton Davis III and LB Anfernee Jennings — have since returned to practice. Starting on Monday, they and the rest of their healthy teammates will go through what projects as the busiest open sessions to date as far as attendance and media interest is concerned.
Per the Patriots’ PR department, the team will follow the following tentative schedule each of the next three days:
Via the NFL-NFLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement, teams are allowed three and a half hours of on-field work each day of minicamp, with no single session permitted to exceed two and a half hours in length. Players will not be in full pads again, while tackling or additional live contact is also not permitted.
Unexcused absence from minicamp, meanwhile, can result in fines of up to $104,768. Teams can charge a maximum penalty of $17,462 for the first day, $34,925 for the second, and $52,381 for the third day a player stays away from minicamp.
With no known current contract disputes, those numbers are not expected to be relevant for the Patriots and their players this year.
All three minicamp sessions are open for credentialed media to attend. Pats Pulpit beat writers Brian Hines and Taylor Kyles will be present at Gillette Stadium, so make sure to give them a follow and regularly revisit for practice recaps, observations, and more.
