Training camp is brutal for NFL players. Lots of grinding through practices and workouts. To top it all off, the summer brings heat and humidity. As a 10-year veteran in the league, safety Devin McCourty admitted he doesn’t like this time of the season.
“No. Nobody likes training camp,” the Patriots team captain said via Kevin Duffy of the Boston Herald. “When you get to the end of the season, no one thinks back to training camp and how hard it was.”
He’s kind of has a point.
For the veterans who already know the playbook, training camp is just an opportunity to play full speed before the regular season begins. When they’ve reached the end of the season, they are likely not looking back and viewing training camp as a point in the season that helped them improve.
But that’s not necessarily the case for rookies and young players. For them, training camp brings reps to help them absorb the speed and intensity of play in the NFL. It’s more of an opportunity to study the playbook and understand the scheme they will be playing in. Lastly, it’s an opportunity to earn a roster spot; making a good first impression is important in that league or else players find themselves looking for a job very quickly.
Training camp is where lives are changed. But for veterans like McCourty, it’s just a warmup.
