The New England Patriots took the field Tuesday for their first on-field OTA (Organized Team Activities) practice open to the media. It was a much-anticipated session with new head coach Mike Vrabel leading a group with heightened expectations after a woeful 2024.<\/p>\n
NBC Sports Boston’s Phil Perry and Tom E. Curran were in attendance for the practice at Gillette Stadium. They shared their biggest takeaways from the day in a brand new episode of the Patriots Talk Podcast.<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udd0a\u00a0Patriots Talk Podcast: Mike Vrabel brings the intensity EARLY in Patriots OTAs; first look at No. 4 pick Will Campbell |\u00a0Listen & Subscribe<\/a>\u00a0| Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n “Offensively, a little sloppy,” Perry said. “I also would say just overall, the feel and the tenor of the practice was more intense than I was anticipating. For years, Tom, we heard about how this time of year, these camps are really teaching camps. … This wasn’t that. This was more intense. The speed was greater than what I’m used to, I think, this time of year. So that was another takeaway.<\/p>\n “The third would just be the defense. When you’re looking at the defense and you’re trying to figure out what this thing might look like moving forward, and how good they could be, there is a lot of talent running around out there, which I think should get Vrabel and his defensive staff pretty excited.”<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfc8 Christian Gonzalez picked off Maye twice. (Both targets to Kyle Williams.) Returned one for a TD.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfc8 First Maye pick floated over CJ Dippre and was snared by Dell Pettus. pic.twitter.com\/WGCnfCeCU6<\/a><\/p>\n