The summer break is over, it’s time for some football again.
On Saturday, the New England Patriots will officially open their 2026 training camp. While the early stages of camp are merely a continuation of the offseason workout program, they will gave fans a first look at the team. And is one looking quite different from the one that lost the Super Bowl in February.
So, with that said, let’s dive into Day 1.
Schedule
The Patriots’ first training camp practice of the summer will take place on the fields behind
Gillette Stadium. As are most other sessions over the next few weeks, it is free and open to the general public.
- 9:15 a.m. ET: Gates open
- 9:30 a.m. ET: Mike Vrabel press conference
- 10:30 a.m. ET: Practice
- ca. 12 p.m. ET: Player availability (QB Drake Maye, WR Romeo Doubs, C Jared Wilson, DT Milton Williams, ED Elijah Ponder, CB Carlton Davis III)
In addition to practice, the Patriots will also hold a dog adoption event at 10. They are cooperating with six local shelters.
As always, of course, the schedule is tentative and subject to change. For more information, please visit our Pats Pulpit Training Camp Guide.
Story of the day
How involved will Christian Gonzalez and Kayshon Boutte be after participating in limited fashion during mandatory minicamp? Both reported to camp alongside their teammates on Friday, but their level of in-practice activity remains to be determined.
Gonzalez, of course, is looking for a new contract. While there is optimism that a deal will get done, particularly once Seattle locks up its own 2023 first-round draft pick, Devon Witherspoon, his unclear status might negatively impact his participation status. The same could be true for Boutte, who has been the subject of trade rumors all offseason after the team invested significant resources in free agent Romeo Doubs and trade pickup A.J. Brown.
Injuries to monitor
NFI: RB Terrell Jennings, S Brenden Schooler
PUP: TE C.J. Dippre, ED Harold Landry III
The Patriots are entering Day 1 of training camp with three players on injury lists. All of them are able to return to practice as soon as they are medically cleared, however, which means that they could be back at practice as early as today.
Players to watch
WR DeMario Douglas: Naturally, Kayshon Boutte is one of the players to keep a close eye on or else we wouldn’t have mentioned him above. With his participation unclear, however, there are plenty of other wideouts worth a close-up look as well, including fellow 2023 draft pick Douglas. The fourth-year wideout, after all, was actively involved in minicamp and looks to be taking on a more prominent role in the slot this season.
G Alijah Vera-Tucker & RT Morgan Moses: The Patriots opted to play it slow with two of their veteran starters along the offensive line, moving Vera-Tucker and Moses in and out of the lineup in the spring. At some point, however, one would. believe their practice workload will need to increase — possibly as early as today.
LB Chad Muma: Robert Spillane and Christian Elliss are very much settled into the top two off-ball linebacker spots, but the competition for roster spots behind them projects to be intense. Muma seemingly was a frontrunner based on his spring, but he needs to follow that performance up to indeed earn the LB3 role.
CB Kindle Vildor: The Patriots’ free agency pickup was actively involved as a backup during OTAs and minicamp, but training camp will be a different beast. Getting off to a good start will be important for him, especially in case Christian Gonzalez will not participate fully — a scenario that would open up quality reps even during the ramp-up period.
Pats Pulpit will have you covered throughout the day, so please make sure to regularly check back to patspulpit.com for all the latest news from camp. Credentialed Patriots beat writers Brian Hines (@iambrianhines), Andrew Guindon (@NestPgs) Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) will bring you live updates from camp on their Twitter/X feeds, so please make sure to give them a follow.
