Patriots Notes: Ben Watson, Dontrelle Inman, Chris Hogan

Dontrelle Inman

New Patriots WR Dontrelle Inman is confident that he will be able to quickly learn New England’s system. 

“It’s a top-notch organization,” Inman said. “Concepts are concepts. Football is football. Names change, but you’re still running the same thing. Everybody in the league, it’s a copycat league, everybody runs the same thing.”

Inman added that he was not concerned about being a free agent after being released by the Colts last season. 

“At this stage of your career, you’ve played long enough to know the process, how things work,” Inman said. “Some guys go down. Some teams have needs early on. Some teams have needs later. Being panicked or anything like that, no.”

Ben Watson

Patriots’ veteran TE Ben Watson said he has a “leadership role” in the locker room given he is 38-years old 

“I think I have a leadership role, period, in our locker room because I’m 38 years old. That’s just what comes when you’re an older player. Now, what happens in the locker room and what happens on the field are two totally different things. On the field, this is the ultimate meritocracy. It’s about learning what to do, being consistent making plays, all the things I learned as a rookie,” said Benjamin, via Erik Scalavino of the Patriots’ official site.

Watson said he only considered re-signing with the Saints or returning to New England this offseason, given he started his career with the Patriots. 

“There were really only two places I considered: coming back here or staying in New Orleans. I thought it would be an interesting opportunity [with the Patriots]. This is where our life started, my wife and I. When I first got here, I was a rookie, wasn’t married. Now, we have seven kids, been married 13 years. So, this place is always special to us.”

Chris Hogan

Former Patriots WR Chris Hogan said he didn’t have any hard feelings over his exit from the Patriots, who didn’t seem to put much effort into bringing him back before he signed with the Panthers. 

“I’d rather not go into too much detail on that, but it’s business, and I understand that,” Hogan said via ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “I appreciate everything that was given to me in New England — the opportunity to go there and play — and I’ll always hold every single one of those people in that organization [in high regard]: Mr. [Robert] Kraft, Bill [Belichick]. It was time to move on, I guess. I take it for what it is. I enjoyed my time. And now I’m excited about the opportunity in front of me.”

• With OT Isaiah Wynn and third-round pick OT Yodny Cajuste not healthy for OTA’s, G Joe Thuney worked at left tackle for the Patriots.