FOXBORO, Mass. — For Lance Kendricks, the call he’d been waiting months for came earlier this week. It was from the New England Patriots, who were seeking some tight end help ahead of their first post-Rob Gronkowski season.
Kendricks happily obliged.
The 31-year-old NFL veteran, who’d been without a contract since his two-year Green Bay Packers deal expired in March, said the Patriots were “pretty much the only team that reached out” to him in free agency.
“So for me,” he said after Saturday’s training camp practice, “it was an easy decision. It was either play football or retire or whatever. I’m happy to be back on the field. It feels good to be out here with a couple of familiar faces, so it’s fun.”
One of those familiar faces is Patriots running back James White, Kendricks’ old college teammate at Wisconsin. Another is Josh McDaniels, the Patriots’ offensive coordinator. McDaniels was Kendricks’ OC when the latter was a St. Louis Rams rookie in 2011, so the tight end has some experience with the Patriots’ advanced offensive concepts.
“(McDaniels) still yells at you if you do the wrong thing, so he hasn’t changed much,” Kendricks said. “But the offense is a little bit different from what I remember. It’s very complex. There’s a lot of different things that go into it, so I’m really just trying to study and just make sure I know what I’m doing before I go out there.”
Kendricks spent his first six NFL seasons with the Rams, posting solid stat lines in 2012 (42 catches, 519 yards, four touchdowns) and 2016 (50-499-2). He did not contribute much as a receiver during his two years in Green Bay (27-373-2 over 32 games) and was not re-signed once his contract ended.
In New England, Kendricks will compete for a roster spot in a tight end group that underwent a near-total overhaul this offseason. Gronkowski (retirement), Dwayne Allen (released) and Jacob Hollister (trade) have been replaced by Matt LaCosse, Ryan Izzo, Stephen Anderson, Andrew Beck, Kendricks and Ben Watson, who is suspended for the first four games of this season.
Izzo and Anderson both were with the Patriots last season, but neither appeared in a regular-season game.
“I’m not putting any pressure on myself to perform or anything,” said Kendricks, who has missed just three games in his career. “I’m just trying to come in, learn and see where I end up. I’m trying to just come in and get a role, and whatever that role is, that’s what the role is.”
He added: “I didn’t have any expectations. I think for me, this year is kind of a fresh start, so I kind of wanted to come in and just put my head down and go to work and just see what I can do.”
The Patriots have eased Kendricks into the offense during their first three training camp practices. He’s caught a total of two passes on three targets during 11-on-11 drills and another on one target in 7-on-7s.
Saturday’s practice — the team’s first in full pads — primarily focused on the running game, allowing the 6-foot-3, 250-pound Kendricks to show off a different aspect of his skill set. Kendricks’ run-blocking grade on Pro Football Focus last season ranked 11th among tight ends with at least 300 run-block snaps.
“I take a ton of pride in run-blocking,” Kendricks said. “I think that’s going to help you ultimately get on the field.”
