BOSTON — In the event of a lockout, some of the Patriots are ready to kick it old school. They won't have Gillette Stadium's multi-million-dollar facilities at their disposal, so they'll make due like they did when they were kids.
"If there's [a lockout], me and [linebacker Jerod] Mayo will be working out together," Pats linebacker Rob Ninkovich said Thursday. "We'll be in the basement on the Bowflex, doing some NFL training. It will be fun. We'll be all right."
Mayo concurred. He might not have a top-of-the-line weight room at his house, but it will be just fine for anyone who wants to work out.
"I got a Bowflex," Mayo said. "I have a DVD player at home to study my film, and like I said, a Bowflex and a treadmill. I’ll be all right."
Other than that, the Patriots don't have a whole lot of planning to do. Ninkovich, Mayo, cornerback Leigh Bodden, safety Patrick Chung and tight end Rob Gronkowski were at a charity event at Boston Children's Hospital on Thursday, just hours before the midnight expiration of the league's collective-bargaining agreement.
For the most part, they're like everyone else. They watch the news, check out Twitter and monitor the situation as it develops. It's out of their hands, and while it's certainly not ideal, there's nothing they can do about it.
"I have no clue. I'm just like anybody else, a spectator," Bodden said. "I'm not in those meetings. That's something that I can't be worried about."
It was a pretty tense day for everyone involved in the mediation and labor meetings in Washington D.C., but farther north, where the players had nothing to do with the matters, they were nonchalant about the CBA discussions. While they aren't happy that it's gotten to this point, they can't waste their energy stressing over something that's out of their hands.
"If it happens, it happens," Ninkovich said. "If not, then it will be just like a regular day tomorrow for me. I'll get up, go work out, do a little something, hang out at the house. Nothing too different."
