3 top takeaways from Thursday's media sessions with David Andrews and Danny Shelton

FOXBOROUGH — In their first in-person sessions with the New England media this offseason, center David Andrews and defensive lineman Danny Shelton tackled a bunch of topics Thursday, but here are the three biggest things we took away from the Q&A's.

1. Andrews is a little looser this year than he’s been in year’s past.



Not sure if it was the fact that it was the offseason. Maybe it was because he has four former college teammates with him on the roster now. Or maybe he’s just started to settle nicely into his captaincy and a greater leadership role. But Andrews was as relaxed and laid-back as I can recall seeing him.

He talked about falling asleep on draft night this year: “I saw Isaiah (Wynn) get drafted and then I passed out. (My wife) came busting in the room about Sony (Michel) getting drafted, and at that point, I really didn’t care. I was just trying to get to sleep.”

With five Bulldogs on the roster, is Georgia the new Rutgers? “I’m going to have to talk to (Devin McCourty) and (Duron Harmon) about that and all those guys. We might be now. We’ll have to see.”

On what he did this offseason: “You know, we got a new puppy, but no kids or anything like that. So, no, pretty uneventful – took some rest, some time to refocus and then we got back to work.” (What kind of dog? A little lap dog?) “No, I got another German Shepherd. They think they’re lap dogs, but no, I got another little black German Shepherd.”

Look, he’s not exactly Martellus Bennett, but when you consider Andrews perfected the art of two-sentence answers over much of his first few seasons in the league, he was a different guy on Thursday. It’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out going forward.

2. Shelton is getting used to a whole new world, especially when it comes to conditioning.

The former Browns defensive lineman, who was acquired this past offseason, has been open about his struggles with weight over the course of his first few seasons in the league. He talked Thursday about watching “(his) body change” since he’s arrived in New England.

“It was a struggle,” he acknowledged of the strength and conditioning program he’s been put on. “I think it'd be a struggle for anybody coming in and not knowing how much running the program asks of you. It's been great so far though.”

Shelton said he’s targeting 335 pounds for his playing weight — his number since he started in the league — seemed to suggest he’s not quite there as of yet. (“We’ll get to it,” he said.) He hasn’t had the chance to work on the infamous conditioning hill, located just beyond the practice field.

“I waved by it,” he said with a smile. “Just getting my mind ready for it. We haven't gotten to that part, but it is deceiving. It doesn't look too tough but just hearing from the guys it's something that you don't want to mess with.”

3. There’s still a little bit of resentment from Shelton regarding the fact that the Patriots didn’t pick up his fifth-year option.

Shelton, Malcom Brown and Phillip Dorsett all didn’t have their options picked up by the team before the May 2 deadline. Shelton acknowledged Thursday it “sucked at first” when the team didn’t make the move, but he said in the end, it’s just another chance for him to prove himself.

“At the same time, you've got to think of it as an opportunity,” he said with a bit of a shrug. “For me I'm just grateful for the opportunity to be here for the year and to just be able to try my best to dominate and to put myself out there and see what happens after that.”