More than one month ago, the New England Patriots concluded their first offseason practices and went into virtual hibernation. However, they and the rest of the NFL will wake up soon as 2017 training camp is right around the corner. On Thursday, the team will hold its first practice session (one that is open to the public). One day earlier, on Wednesday, the Patriots' veterans will report to camp.
And today, New England's rookies will do the same.
The team's first-year players will go through medical examinations before hitting the practice fields with their more experienced teammates in three days. And even though the Patriotd picked only four players – the fewest in the league – during late April's NFL draft, the team's overall rookie class is rather big as a total of 24 players will arrive at Foxboro's Gillette Stadium later today.
They Patriots' 2017 rookies are as follows:
Draft picks
DE Derek Rivers
OT Antonio Garcia
DE Deadrich Wise Jr.
OT Conor McDermott
Undrafted free agents
RB LeShun Daniels
WR Austin Carr
WR Cody Hollister
TE Jacob Hollister
TE Sam Cotton
OT Andrew Jelks
OT Max Rich
OT/OG Cole Croston
OG Jason King
DT Josh Augusta
DT Adam Butler
LB Brooks Ellis
LB Harvey Langi
CB D.J. Killings
CB Kenny Moore
CB Will Likely
SS Dwayne Thomas
SS Jason Thompson
SS Damarius Travis
FS David Jones
Of those 24 men, only two can be considered locks to make the Patriots' opening day team: third round picks Derek Rivers and Antonio Garcia. The rest is projected to fight for the remaining spots on the defending world champions' 53-man roster or their 10-man practice squad.
Besides the players listed above, the Patriots have one more rookie under contract: defensive edge Corey Vereen, who was signed as a free agent following the draft. However, Vereen tore his ACL during one of New England's minicamp practices and was waived with an injury designation. After going unclaimed, he became the first and so far only member of the 2017 Patriots to be placed on the injured reserve list.