FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – While other teams scramble to make it to their college-based training camps this week, the New England Patriots will stay at home … and get started quickly.

As a result of the new agreement between the players and owners Monday, the Patriots can begin reporting to Gillette Stadium today, if desired. Training camp will officially begin in Foxborough on Wednesday, and the first practice is set for Thursday.

The workouts on Thursday will be open to the public, though times are still to be announced. The initial practices will likely be scaled back a bit while the players continue to work toward playing shape.

Perhaps no one has had a longer offseason than New England, as it is coming off a disheartening 28-21 loss to the New York Jets at home in the AFC divisional round. Despite a 14-2 season in which they won the AFC East title and cruised to the conference’s No. 1 seed, the Patriots could not get beyond Week 2 of the postseason.

New England will open the preseason at home Aug. 11 vs. Jacksonville and will open the regular season, on Monday Night Football, Sept. 12 at Miami.

Perhaps they will benefit from the lack of travel during the early weeks. The Patriots are not among the many teams who still plan to move operations to colleges for as much as three weeks.

 


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