The New England Patriots players became the coaches on Wednesday.
As part of the team’s annual Community Day event, players helped more than 200 fourth- and fifth-grade students from Young Woods Elementary School in Providence, Rhode Island work through football drill stations on the Patriots practice fields.
Quarterback Drake Maye and several of his wide receivers led a throwing station where students tossed passes into the same three-target net Maye did as a rookie. Among the receivers at the station was
the outgoing Kyle Williams, who danced and brought the energy throughout the 90-minute event.
“It’s fun. You know, obviously, the kids come out and being able to see them have fun, smile and everything, it just brings you back to when you were a child, and you just wish you could go through these things,” rWilliams said. “I have nieces and nephews, and I love time with them. So when I get to spend time with kids and just help them show that they can reach their dreams, and that’s what I love to do.”
Most of the Patriots’ 90-man roster and coaching staff attended the event and spread out throughout the different stations. That included safety Craig Woodson joining forces with Marcus Jones, Kevin Byard, Bryce Baringer and others to help kids work through a footwork and kicking drill.
“This is stuff that whenever you make it to this level, this is what you want to do,” Woodson said. “You want to give back. You want to see kids smiling, being able to interact with them. I hope that we made an impact in their lives today. I’m happy that they were able to come out here.
“I never had an opportunity like this to interact with professional athletes, so for them to be able to have that, that’s big.”
Elsewhere around the field, Mike Vrabel bounced from group to group much like he would during a Patriots practice.
Offensive lineman such as Will Campbell, Jared Wilson, Caleb Lomu, Alijah Vera-Tucker, and Mike Onwenu put kids through different bag drills. Rhamondre Stevenson threw passes to students, while Andy Borregales and Julian Ashby were barefoot showing kids how to kick and punt.
Linebacker Christian Elliss teamed up with several other defenders to lead a flag football station.
“It’s so much fun being around kids,” Elliss said. “I didn’t have anything like this growing up, so it was cool to be able to come out here and, for these kids, to be able to experience what it’s like to be around professionals and to be in such a cool place, be right outside the stadium. It was a lot of fun.”
