ShareThisTom Brady still has Randy Moss and Wes Welker to throw to, but he also has spent time this preseason throwing to new Patriots -- but veteran receivers -- Joey Galloway and Greg Lewis, and rookies Julian Edelman and Terrence Nunn.
There is both a familiarity and making of acquaintances among the group, and both have to be balanced in order for the offense to grow as a unit.
"It's something that is a challenge each year because you always want to try to pick up where you left off," Brady said this week. "The reality is you never do because you add so many different elements: coaches, players, different plays, strategies. This year is certainly no different. We've made quite a few changes personnel-wise and we're trying to get up to speed. So I think in some ways you regress a little bit in order to build a foundation, which we tried to do through camp. Now we're more into the game-plan mode of sorting out what we're trying to do each week."
Despite having 14 NFL seasons behind him, Galloway has said that every day with his new team has been a learning process for him, as he digests the New England offense, which is based a great deal on timing, and discovering Brady's nuances as a passer.
Tight end Chris Baker has had some one-on-one time with Brady as well, as he and the quarterback get on the same page.
It is part of the process, and Brady is hopeful that the bulk of the learning is done and now things can be taken a step further.
Heading into the third preseason game, "You're not really in the training camp, mini-camp learning phase of, 'OK, this is the base offense.' Now you're more into strategy and hopefully we built a strong enough foundation to be able to make changes throughout the year and grow as a team while incorporating those new guys into what we're doing."
Asked if the group is progressing as he would expect, Brady says it is hard to tell at this point.
"Every team is different. Every year is different. I think it's unfair to put the expectations of previous teams on this team," he said. "This team is going to learn at its own pace and I think our identity is going to be established in its own way based on what we end up being good at. The guys have been working hard, I know that. We've got some really veteran football players that we've added who are working hard and they understand the commitment it's going to take. Like most every other team, there are plenty of good things, but plenty of bad things and we've got to try to eliminate those bad things before we take the field for the opener."
The offense will face a big test in the Redskins, which boasted the fourth overall defense in the league last season and has a strong secondary in cornerbacks Carlos Rogers, DeAngelo Hall and Fred Smoot and safety LaRon Landry.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
Must credit The Providence Journal
