As the Patriots open training camp, they transition from hunter to hunted

FOXBOROUGH — The Patriots hold their first practice of training camp on Saturday, and boy, what a difference a year makes.

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Last year, they were a nondescript team with few expectations, coming off a 4-13 season and just looking to build a culture under new coach Mike Vrabel. Now they’re coming off a 14-3 season and Super Bowl appearance, trying to prove that last year was no fluke.

Welcome back, Patriots, to being the team everyone else wants to knock off.

“We are the team that’s being hunted,” cornerback Marcus Jones said Friday after veterans reported for camp. “We have to wear that chip on our shoulder every single time that we get out there.”

February’s 29-13 loss to the Seahawks in the Super Bowl should provide that needed chip, but Vrabel said his messaging doesn’t change much despite the 180-degree turn in franchise fortune. His core pillars for the players remain the same no matter the team’s record — earn a role, build the team, prepare to win.

“I think that it’s got to be consistent,” Vrabel said. “We have to be able to build each and every year. We have to start over and figure out the things that we do well, what we like and what the players have confidence in. And we have to be able to push the envelope on some things that we weren’t very good at last year, how we improve and how we build. So, that starts over each and every training camp.”

Still, Vrabel and his veteran leaders have their challenge set out this training camp. The schedule is going to be tougher, the expectations higher, and the bull’s-eye will be large on the uniforms.

The Patriots had the worst possible offseason calendar — shorter than other teams’ thanks to the Super Bowl run, but with no trophy to show for it. They need to shake off the disappointment of the loss, fight off any complacency that may have set in, and make sure the players understand that last year means nothing in 2026. There also are 35 new faces among the 90 in training camp who need to learn the new Patriot Way.

“There’s some things we can definitely carry over, but there’s some things we’ve got to flush,” tight end Hunter Henry said. “I think we’re all excited just for this year, and not really worried about last year. If you’re not motivated every year, you’re not going to make it in this league long.”

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The Patriots aren’t trying to completely flush the 2025 season. There was obviously a lot to be proud of, and the Super Bowl loss provided valuable lessons, as did the victories.

“We learned how to win,” Vrabel said. “But the journey that we’re getting ready to go on, it’s not always going to be smooth sailing. I would love to say we’re going to win 10 games in a row, I don’t know if that’s going to happen, but there’s going to be things on the field that we’re going to have to deal with. There’s going to be things off the field personally, professionally. That’s what we do, and we’re going to start tomorrow by building, then teaching, and then going out the next day and making sure that we get it fixed.”

Linebacker Robert Spillane said the Super Bowl loss still pains him, and his hunger level is “at an all-time high.”

“It makes you second-guess everything you’ve done, and it makes you look for a little bit more of an edge,” Spillane said. “It was hard for me. It was almost like a dark place — you felt like you let it slip through your hands. You’ve got to keep going forward. No one feels bad that you made it to the Super Bowl and lost. It’s our job to get back to where we want to get to, and we’re going to do that through hard work.”

The beginning of training camp also means increasing the intensity around the new football facility.

“It was fun to be around the younger guys for a few days. It was fun to get the coaching staff back together,” Vrabel said. “But now, we’ve got the bulk of the team that will be out there tomorrow, and that pace and their urgency has to look much different than it did in the spring . . . I’m confident that it will.”

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