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New England Patriots Links 6/28/11 - Dane Fletcher: Rookie Free Agents Will Have It Tough

By Marima

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<em>Dane Fletcher poses with fans (who know nothing about him except that he's a "hottie") after local lockout workout</em>.
Dane Fletcher poses with fans (who know nothing about him except that he's a "hottie") after local lockout workout.

Mike Reiss spends a few minutes catching up with Dane Fletcher at Tedy Bruschi's eighth annual 'Tee Up With Tedy' Golf Tournament.

His approach this offseason. "It's a tough offseason in a way, especially because you don't know when we're going to be unlocked. My approach, along with a lot of guys I train with, is if the call comes tomorrow we're all ready. We're in shape and we're ready in a month [to play]. We're ready whenever this thing kicks off. When it does, it's on. That's what we hope for, and that's what we expect."

How he's handling the lockout. "So far, since I've been in an offseason already, I kind of understand the logistics behind it. I'm watching film with [Jerod] Mayo. We're doing about the same things that we would be doing if we weren't locked out. I'm prepared. We're all prepared. We watch film together. We still work. We run together. You get all the ingredients you need in there, and in the end, hopefully you have a fine mix."

Living with tight end Rob Gronkowski. "It's great. We eat healthy, we train hard together. It's all work when the work is due. I couldn't ask for a better roommate when it comes to that because we both compete on a daily basis, with everything, with food. He'll get a couple extra abs at night or something and I'll be like 'Dang, I'll do that.' It's being pushed all the time, to the maximum potential that you can be pushed. And we have some fun too. You have to enjoy life a little bit and have some fun. There is a fine balance."

Christopher Price catches up with Tedy Bruschi at his annual golf tournament at TPC Boston and hears his assessment of Jerod Mayo.

"He’s done things there in his short career with the Patriots that I wasn’t able to do until my eighth or ninth year or something like that. That’s how far along he is. That’s how good he is," Bruschi said of the 6-foot-1, 245-pound Mayo. "I never had the ability that he has — how fast he is, how big he is and strong. The sky is the limit for him. I truly see him being the best linebacker in the game within two years. I think that’s how good he is."

"No matter what defensive scheme they run," he added. "They’ll run some 3-4. They’ll run some 4-3 looks. And he can do it on a down-to-down basis. It’s very difficult to do, especially in that system — I know. The sky is the limit for him."

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