The New England Patriots rookie class made the trip to Foxboro this week for their first time as official members of the team — which concludes on Sunday after three days of on-field rookie minicamp work.
That has been the primary focus here on Pats Pulpit the past few days. For anything that fell through the cracks, let’s clean out the notebook. Welcome to this week’s edition of our Sunday Patriots Notes.
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Flying to Foxboro
Caleb Lomu boarded a red-eye flight in Arizona on Wednesday night for his first ever trip to New England — a journey that quickly turned into a lifelong memory.
The American Airlines flight from Phoenix to Boston was piloted by his uncle, Curtis Tanner. That, of course, led to a special pre-flight announcement.
“He’s the type of uncle who is going to embarrass you a little bit. I knew it was coming,” Lomu said Thursday as he was officially introduced. “Of course, he got on the intercom, started talking and brought me up to the front.”
“He was telling everyone who I was — a proud uncle, was what he was saying.”
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Tanner had been randomly assigned the flight to Boston just days earlier. It marked the first time Lomu had flown with his uncle as the pilot, which led to him receiving a special flight pin.
It wasn’t the first sign that Lomu and the Patriots might be destined to connect.
Ahead of the first round of the draft, Lomu’s wife, Kitty, printed out a map of the United States and hung it on the wall. Friends and family at the draft party placed sticky notes with their names on the locations of the teams they believed would select Lomu.
“My wife actually chose New England. She was the only one who put her name up on the Patriots. That was a sign right there of where I was going to go,” Lomu said.
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That prediction came true when the Patriots traded up in the first round to select him. When the phone rang, Kitty was the first to realize what was happening.
“They traded up and we had no idea. And so when I got the call there was another team up and we’re like, is it them? She actually saw it said MA and then she kind of worked some things out in her head. But she was the first one to see it,” Lomu said. “She picked that. She always talked about the Patriots being one of her top spots that she wanted to go and, you know, maybe she guessed it spot on.”
Lomu’s first day
After landing from his red-eye flight Thursday morning, Lomu arrived in Foxboro and got some much-needed sleep at a hotel in Patriot Place.
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From there, he made his way to the team’s New Balance Athletics Center for a tour of the facility — including a stop at his new locker — while also meeting those still in the building and visiting with the equipment staff. He later made his way onto the field with Robert and Jonathan Kraft to be formally introduced.
Now, the focus shifts to the field, with rookie minicamp set to run from Friday through Sunday.
“Just a first positive day. It’s awesome, but definitely ready to get under that helmet and get ready to play some ball,” he said.
Morton’s health
One of the top traits the Patriots valued when evaluating Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton was his toughness. Morton battled injuries throughout his college career, which included an AC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder and a hairline fracture in his right leg. He still went on to start all 24 games the past two seasons while playing through pain.
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Now in New England after being selected in the seventh-round of last month’s draft, Morton shared he’s the healthiest he’s been in a “really long time.” His throwing shoulder — which required surgery following the ’24 season — feels the best it has since high school.
Lone QB
Morton is the only quarterback on the Patriots’ rookie roster, which has led to plenty of practice reps and one-on-one time with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels on the field and in the classroom — where he has already watched film of Tom Brady to begin learning the offense.
So far, Morton is making sure to take advantage of every opportunity.
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“It’s great. A lot of reps, which is really beneficial right now,” he said. “Just being a sponge. Ask as many questions as I can right now. Learning this playbook is very dense, but as much as I can get the opportunity to ask questions right now, while it’s just me in in the quarterback room, maximize my opportunity right now.”
Prunty’s Pro Bowl goals
Patriots fifth-round pick Karon Prunty has looked up to cornerback Christian Gonzalez. Joining a cornerback room also with Carlton Davis and Marcus Jones, Prunty seems aware his primary impact as a rookie might not come on defense. That is why he’s ready to show his ability on special teams in the mean time.
“Just want to prove I’m willing to do whatever for the team,” he said. “Whether it’s playing special teams, running as a gunner, being a Pro Bowler at that, or getting on the field as a corner and just getting my feet wet, things like that.”
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Setting up the week ahead
The Patriots will continue to progress through their offseason program, with rookies joining the veterans for Week 2 of Phase 2 on Monday. That allows the full coaching staff to be on the field while players work at a walkthrough pace without any live contact or full-team work — in addition to workouts.
New England will transition to the third and final phase of offseason workouts on May 27.
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