With the third phase of offseason workouts now underway, the New England Patriots held their first of their organized team activities on Monday. While those OTA sessions are meant as a learning exercise and take place without full pads or live tackling, they still give players their most extensive opportunity to get used to the system and the team as a whole before mandatory minicamp takes place next month.
Despite those sessions being voluntary, the Patriots traditionally have good attendance. While judging it from afar is a difficult and incomplete exercise — media access is restricted and most practices are closed to non-team spectators — the club did provide a behind-the-scenes look on Monday night by sharing 50 photos from the first session on its website.