Patriots offseason program is set to begin April 8

FOXBORO -- The Patriots have a new coaching staff in place under Jerod Mayo. That staff has been hard at work developing their program this offseason, and in just over a week, players will start to get a feel for life under Mayo.

The NFL announced Friday that New England's offseason program will begin on April 8, along with the Panthers, Seahawks, and Titans, according to The MMQB's Albert Breer. The Falcons, Chargers, and Commanders will get started a few days prior on April 2.

All seven of those teams have new coaching staffs in place, so they get to start the offseason program two weeks earlier than the rest of the NFL. The offseason workouts are to give players training, teaching, and physical conditioning ahead of OTAs and minicamp.

The offseason program is broken into three phases, via the NFL rule book:

Phase One consists of the first two weeks of the program with activities limited to meetings, strength and conditioning, and physical rehabilitation only.

Phase Two consists of the next three weeks of the program. On-field workouts may include individual or group instruction and drills, as well as "perfect play drills," and drills and plays with offensive players lining up across from offensive players and defensive players lining up across from defensive players, conducted at a walk-through pace. No live contact or team offense vs. team defense drills are permitted.

Phase Three consists of the next four weeks of the program. Teams may conduct a total of 10 days of organized team practice activity, or "OTAs". No live contact is permitted, but 7-on-7, 9-on-7, and 11-on-11 drills are permitted.

The Patriots previously announced 10 dates of organized team activity sessions in May and June and three days of mandatory minicamp in June.