Dolphins

The Dolphins picked up first-round G Kadyn Proctor, while G Jonah Savaiinaea enters the second year of his career. When asked how they’ll be aligned, HC Jeff Hafley responded that they want to let both players get comfortable on one side before considering moving them around. 

“(Kadyn) Proctor, you’ll see on one side right now, Jonah (Savaiinaea), you’ll see on one side right now, and we’ll just keep him on those sides and let them get comfortable. So it’s case by case, and I think that’s our job as coaches is to figure that out. Some guys, we’re still not sure yet. Practice has been limited. Team reps have been limited, and we’ll figure that out in training camp,” Hafley said, via the team’s site. 

Hafley mentioned that Savaiinaea appears to be “more comfortable” on the right side. 

“Yeah, he seems more comfortable there. Talking to Zach (Yenser) and to Matt (Applebaum), they seem to believe that he’s more comfortable there, but it’s also Year 2 for him, so he’s going to be more comfortable, period. Whether he played on the left side, whether he played on the right side, he’s got more cumulative reps and muscle memory on the one side. Is it a mental thing? Is it a physical thing? If you ask Jonah, he feels good on the right side. So whether it’s mental, whether it’s physical, whether it’s confidence, whether it’s Year 2, our job is to make sure he has a better year than he did last year, which you would expect going from Year 1 to Year 2,” Hafley said. 

Although Proctor is slated to begin his career at left guard, there’s been talk of him eventually moving out to left tackle. Hafley explained that they want to avoid overloading the rookie and ensure he’s comfortable heading into the season. 

“Yeah, there’s things we can do in individual and do that, so he’s working the fundamentals and the technique, whether it’s pass protection, whether it’s in the run game. But when we’re just talking about schematically learning the playbook, we believe that it’s his best bet not to overload him, like we were just talking about to try to learn too much, and then when it comes down to actually having to play it, you’re not ready to play anything. I’ve been a part of and I’ve even made the mistake in my past, of you take one player and you say, all right, I’m going to teach him this position, this position. Then you start playing him and it’s like, man, that’s not fair what we just did to that guy. He’s not ready to play. He didn’t get all those reps over and over again. We’re really limited in what we can do right now. OTAs is not training camp. I mean, you guys saw practice. It is what it is. I respect the rules and we’re going to follow the rules of OTAs, but this isn’t like let’s go run the ball and be physical and get all those reps. So the minimal reps that we get, we just believe it’s best to get them comfortable playing football again, and then we can certainly do that. I respect the question. I think it’s a good question, but we got to be mindful of how much to throw on these guys right now.”

Patriots

Patriots WR A.J. Brown is already building a rapport with new QB Drake Maye after being traded to New England back at the beginning of the month.

“The talent speaks for itself; he can make any throw, but I think what’s more impressive to me is that he knows what he’s doing,” Brown said, via Mike Reiss of ESPN. “To be that young, and to understand the defense, and to understand every little check — the hots, the blitz, all those things so fast — is very impressive. So, I really admire that he knows what he’s talking about, and he demands everyone else to know, as well. He’s a true leader of men. It’s crazy to see at a young age.”

“It’s hard not to get excited,” Maye added. “What a player he is, and just right off the bat, what a great teammate so far. He’s been a guy that you see on ‘SportsCenter’ the next day, making plays and scoring.”

Patriots

Coming off a run to the Super Bowl last season, Patriots CB Carlton Davis III is confident the defense is going to pick up right where they left off in 2026.

“I feel like we’re coming right in where we left off, playing at a high level [with] good chemistry,” Davis said, via Karen Guregian of Mass Live. “It’s just so good to have all the guys back. When you have everybody here, you just can feel the momentum that we had last year. And even the new additions are coming in with the same mentality. So yeah, it’s been fun.”

With veteran S Kevin Byard now in the mix, Davis praised his communication and ball skills, which will be a valuable addition to their secondary.

“He brings what every great safety brings to a defense: communication, knowledge, experience, ball skills. He’s just given us all a little more confidence, knowing he’s back there, and he’s orchestrating the show.”