FOXBORO, Mass. — These rainy days don’t just affect basements. They’re also tough on the Patriots, who are waking up four times a week to run through a session of wind sprints before hitting the weight room.
"Days like this, it’s a little tougher to get going," Sammy Morris said. "We have three run groups. When you first wake up, it’s kind of easy to hit the snooze bar and say I’ll just make the next run group instead."
The Patriots are in their third week of voluntary workouts at Gillette Stadium, so that freshness has worn off, and those aches and pains from tougher gym sessions are mounting. As they work to get over that hump, they'd appreciate a sunny day or two, just like the rest of us. But they can at least appreciate the fact that the team-building aspect everyone has been preaching this offseason has already come into play.
"Once you get here, this morning it was Sam Aiken and BenJarvus [Green-Ellis] kind of helping me along, us helping other guys get along,” Morris said. “That’s just part of the team that we’re supposed to pick each other up."
