Patriots: training camp schedule revealed after players agree to safety measures

NFL training camps are underway this week and the Patriots will get to work.

We’re living through some weird times, but the NFL is going full steam ahead with its plan to start the 2020 season on time and in the manner in which they planned. That means the New England Patriots get to work this week at training camp.

The NFL and NFLPA agreed to the testing measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was the final step in the process before giving everything the green light.

Pats fans will see Cam Newton, Jarrett Stidham and the rookies report on Monday for their COVID tests.

The rest of the team will follow on Tuesday, and then players can start arriving at the facility during the weekend after two negative COVID tests. The second tests will be administered on Thursday with the entire team reporting that day. Wednesday will serve as an off day/no testing day.

After that, according to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, “there will be two days of physicals. Days 7-14 will cover strength and conditioning work and walk-through instruction only, while Days 15-18 will involve practices without pads. The first padded practice can’t happen before Aug. 17, and there can be 14 in total.”

Big note here, too: the QB battle will take place without any preseason games or scrimmages with other teams, so Newton will have to impress the Patriots coaching staff during practices and workouts.

On top of that, we’ll see an intriguing battle at the wide receiver position, with guys like Mohamed Sanu, N’Keal Harry, Jakobi Meyers and Marqise Lee battling for reps behind Julian Edelman. We could also see some rookies such as Kyle Duggar and Josh Uche make an impact and earn some significant playing time.

It all starts this week. Though it isn’t sexy with the COVID testing, we need to take the necessary safety measures if we want football in 2020.