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For new New England Patriots wide receiver Brandon Lloyd, it's been a career full of inconsistency. After breaking onto the scene in 2003 with the San Francisco 49ers as a rookie, he found himself bouncing around from team to team, trying to find himself as an NFL player.
Finally in 2010, Lloyd was given an opportunity with the Denver Broncos under then head coach Josh McDaniels, where he had tremendous success. During that year, Lloyd caught 77 passes for 1,448 yards and 11 touchdowns in route to a pro-bowl berth. Since then, he hasn't looked back.
After putting up two career years back-to-back, Lloyd earned the attention of many teams vying for him in free agency. But instead of truly cashing in to the highest bidder, Lloyd made his decision about winning by signing with the Patriots, and playing in an offense coordinated by McDaniels, the man that helped groom him into a star.
On Thursday, the Patriots hit the field for their second day of organized team activities (OTAs). In speaking with the media today, Lloyd kept his time short, but touched on what the transition into being a part of the "Patriot Way" has been like for him:
"Plugging away. Just getting into our OTAs and understanding the process and the way that the plays are called and run and just the execution of the workouts and the timing and the scheduling. It's been a change and I'm excited to see how everything works out."
KOPPEN LOOKING TO RE-ESTABLISH HIMSELF
After going down with a devastating injury to his left fibula during Week One, Patriots center Dan Koppen appears to be fighting for his job, and his life as a Patriot. His former backup, Dan Connolly, was taking the majority of the reps at center during team OTAs today, with Koppen behind him.
If Connolly getting more reps than Koppen surprises you, just take a look at the contract details. The Pats signed Connolly first this offseason, to a three-year deal worth $9.7 million, which is pretty close to what an average NFL starting offensive lineman makes.
For the longtime starter Koppen, he knows that his job is not safe, and he's just looking to perform the best he can to try and catch up for lost time.
"I think there's always competition (for jobs)," he shrugged. "You approach every year, there's always guys coming in and trying to take your job and my approach this year is not going to be any different from last year. No one's job is safe on this team -- maybe minus [Tom Brady]. But you never know around here.
"You've just got to compete and work hard, show the coaches you can be reliable, dependable, that you know what to do, be in the right spot and just go. There'll always be competition; that's what the coaches stress to us and everybody coming in. That's what we're told."
ADDAI READY TO MOVE INTO NEW CHAPTER OF CAREER
New Patriots running back Joseph Addai has his own unique perspective about one of the AFC's best rivalries, having played for the rival Indianapolis Colts for the past six seasons. Now, he's playing for the other team.
Despite crossing over to the other side of one of the league's most exciting rivalries, he's not interested in getting into the politics of Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning. He's just happy to be a Patriot, plain and simple.
"I'm a Patriot now. That's behind me," Addai told reporters on Thursday afternoon after the team's third organized team activity of the 2012 offseason.
"To me, it's all about playing ball. I've got a great chance to be a part of this ballclub, and do what they do here, and I'm very excited about that," he said.