The New England Patriots opened mandatory minicamp on Monday to kick-start their final spring practice sessions.
It was a similar setup to organized team activities (OTAs) with the players working through designed drills and a competitive period between the offense and defense. This setting generally favors the offensive players with the team not practicing in pads.
The defense is limited in what they can do on the field in only helmets and shorts. That will obviously change later this summer when the pads come on at training camp. Then we'll get a real sense of where players are in their preparation for the regular season.