FOXBOROUGH - Jacoby Brissett has been here before. In fact, just last year, he entered camp with the Commanders with an opportunity to be the starter, but he was out-played by Sam Howell and ended up watching from the sidelines for most of the season.
This time, Brissett has been declared the lead dog, both in the spring and now, as training camp gets underway.
"Obviously, that's the ultimate goal, and I don't take things like that lightly," said Brissett on Tuesday morning. "But I understand this league, and I understand how every day is a challenge. It takes competition, and I look forward to that and feed off that. I'm looking to go out there and prove it every day."
Of course, Brissett knows this job is not forever. Right behind him on the depth chart is the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Drake Maye. While raw in some areas, Maye had a good spring and is intent on making a run at starting sooner rather than later. Despite the competition that exists between the two - and is being encouraged by the coaching staff - Brissett has done a good job connecting with the 21-year-old rookie - they knew each other through Howell, then helped work out the Pats wide receivers in Florida a couple of weeks ago.
Brissett was asked what advice he might give Maye as he heads into his first summer in the league.
"There's no scholarships anymore. It's your job and that's what makes it so fun - you get to go out there and compete every day, and you understand that somebody else is trying to take your job."
It sounds like Brissett could be talking to himself in the mirror.
- Jonathan Jones is the longest-tenured Patriot on the defensive side of the ball. He's come a long way from the undrafted free agent out of Auburn who had to make the team with special teams wizardry but has since evolved into a multi-contract guy.
Jones, who says he's fully recovered from off-season surgery, is an unquestioned leader - not just of a position group filled with younger players - but of an entire locker room.
"It goes, it goes fast. I remember talking to Devin (McCourty) and Slate (Matthew Slater) when I first got here. And those are the guys that I kind of latched on to and said, 'Hey, I want to be where you are.' And they were in years eight and nine. And so I was talking to Slate the other day, and he goes, 'You're the old guy now. You're the guy guys are depending on, showing them the way.'
"I think that's what Devin, that's what Slate, that's what High (Dont'a Hightower) did for me. So being in that place now, showing how to be a professional, just the simple things, and for me, let the story write itself."
- Ja'Whaun Bentley has been on a championship team, even if his role on the 2018-19 Patriots was not substantial. As his career progressed and evolved, the linebacker has become a critical piece of the defensive puzzle and a player respected by those around him.
Bentley watched closely as the Celtics made their run to an NBA title this spring, often sitting courtside. He praised that team for keeping its head down when adversity hit or the noise about them grew louder. In answering what he thinks about the C's world now that they've won, Bentley gives insight into how he approaches his business.
"You wouldn't want it any other way, though. You should thrive when expectations are high. I feel like a lot of times, like I kind of said earlier, you kind of get addicted to being doubted the whole time. But when you're no longer doubted, and you're expected to do a certain thing, when that chip is no longer there, you got to find a new motivation. Just keep going and find different things that you can work on. I think that's when you figure out what kind of player you really are.
"That's a new challenge. So I challenge every player that's out there just trying to find a new motivation. Just seek it out."