This is not a normal week and it was not a normal training.
Although they don't need much motivation, the Patriots had an unexpected visitor who was the team's captain for 11 years: Vince Wilfork.
During a special teams session, Wilfork arrived at practice, which made several players go to his place to greet him. The coaches called them to finish practice with a meeting in the middle of the field, where they asked Vince to say a few words about the experience they are going through.
Although 35 of the players on the current roster were in the previous Super Bowl, there are elements that had never experienced this kind of moments and what the former defensive player told them was to continue with the motivation they have.
"He is a great leader for us, he was the team captain for 11 years. Many of those who are here are his friends, many are new, but he is a respected player and it was important to see him with us," commented coach Bill Belichick.
As it was known, Rob Gronkowski has already joined Thursday's practice, along with lineman Deatrich Wise, both were out due to the concussion protocol.
As for Tom Brady, he practiced again using a small black tape on his right hand.
"It's a long year but we're in a routine, we do what we have to do," the head coach continued. "We have kept to the routine we have carried throughout the year, and that's what we were looking for."
Although it was a faster practice than Wednesday's, with plenty of time to polish special teams work, it helped them perfect some things that hadn't gone well the day before.
"It was better than yesterday (Wednesday). We needed to polish some details and we are closer to the goal we want. So we hope to reach that point on Sunday," Belichick concluded.