Cam Newton, N’Keal Harry join Patriots’ workout session in California

While the New England Patriots’ front office is busy bolstering the roster during free agency and the early portions of the new league year, the team’s players are preparing themselves for the upcoming 2021 season as well. A group of them has gathered in Southern California at the behest of third-year quarterback Jarrett Stidham.

The workout session, dubbed “Pats West,” was kicked off over the weekend and initially included seven players. Stidham was joined by Patriots free agency acquisitions Hunter Henry and Kendrick Bourne, as well as wide receivers Jakobi Meyers and Kristian Wilkerson, and tight ends Devin Asiasi and Matt LaCosse.

Four others have now joined the group as well, including starting quarterback Cam Newton.

Newton has spent time during the offseason in his hometown of Atlanta, and later returned to New England to sign a one-year contract extension through 2021. He has now flown out to California to join his teammates and get acquainted with three of the team’s biggest offseason acquisitions.

Henry and Bourne, who were both signed to three-year deals last week, are not the only ones present, after all: the party was also joined by wide receiver Nelson Agholor, fresh off signing a two-year free agent pact with the Patriots.

Building a rapport with their new teammates and quarterbacks will be the main focus of the offseason workouts for them, said Kendrick Bourne during his introductory media conference call earlier this week.

“We have a lot of time. There may not be any OTAs, they’re saying, or stuff like that, around the NFLPA, so if I have that I just get up there and stay around these guys as much as I can just so I can get that good feeling, get that timing right. That timing is everything,” the 25-year-old pass catcher said.

Fellow wide receivers N’Keal Harry and Isaiah Zuber were also spotted during the workout. While Zuber spent his entire 2020 rookie season on the practice squad, and was elevated to the game day roster on four occasions, Harry played a prominent role within the Patriots’ passing attack last season and finished with 33 receptions for 309 yards and two touchdowns — one each thrown by Newton and Stidham.

However, with injuries limiting him throughout his first two years in the league the former first-round selection has yet to live up to his draft status. Spending time alongside New England’s current quarterbacks and with his new teammates can only help in that regard.