New England Patriots 2011 Preview: Training Camp Doors Open to Public Tomorrow

After the longest work stoppage in NFL history, it's time for some football.  The New England Patriots who started the business of football Tuesday morning, will open Training Camp to the public on Thursday and Friday this week.  

The Patriots will be looking to start fresh after their crushing loss to the Jets in last year's playoffs. After an NFL best (14-2) in the regular season, the Pats were one and done in the 2010 playoffs. With that loss behind them and some new faces entering this years camp, along with last years squad, it's a training camp full of high expectations that will hopefully carry through the pre-season, the regular season, and quite possibly, a return to the Super Bowl, this year to be held in Indianapolis. First, they've got to win a playoff game, something, amazingly enough, the Patriots have not done since '07.

The hope of returning to the Big Game is in the best hands possible, Tom Brady. The two-time MVP and three-time Super Bowl Champion will lead his team on the field as he always does, with an unmatched work ethic and a determination that helped him win his second MVP award last year, the only unanimous MVP winner in NFL history.

Some other notables and favorites returning to this years camp are Wes Welker, Deion Branch, Ben Jarvis Green-Ellis(who had a 1,000 yards rushing last season), safety Patrick Chung, Cornerback Devin McCourty, WR/KR Julian Edelman, and Logan Mankins, who recently signed his "franchise tender" and will report to training camp on time this year after sitting out the majority of the 2010 season.

Some new arrivals to keep eyes on this year are members of the 2011 Draft Class. 1st round pick out of Colorado, Nate Solder, and second round pics, Shane Vareen, running back, and Ras-I Dowling, cornerback.  One other notable new addition is third round pick, Quarterback Ryan Mallet, out of Arkansas.  Is Mallet the eventual successor to the Brady legacy?  Time will tell, and fans, coaches and the rest of the world will get their first look tomorrow morning.

Check back here for a complete wrap up on the first day of the 2011 Patriots Training Camp.

With a truncated, or basically non-existent off season, the Patriots held conditioning tests yesterday and today at their facility in Foxborough.  Tomorrow, they will officially begin Training Camp, and the first practices will be open to the public.  

There will be two sessions on Thursday, July 28th, and Friday July 29th.  

The first will be from 9:30-11:30 a.m. and the afternoon session will run from 3:30-5:30 p.m.  

As always there will also be the "Patriots Experience" in which parents, children and their family and friends can entertain themselves with a variety of games and activities, which will be held just outside the entrance to the Training Camp.  The "Experience" will run from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each day.  Both the Training Camp practices and the Patriots Experience are free and open to the public.

For more information you can call the Patriots Training Camp Hotline at (508) 549-0001 or visit Patriots.com