The Patriots held their Sunday afternoon practice – a walkthrough that was closed to the public but open to the media – inside the Dana-Farber Field House. Every player, including those who've missed practice in recent days, was in attendance, as is the norm in such cases.
While these workouts are normally uneventful, today's was made a little more interesting by the appearance of Patriots great Troy Brown. The former wide receiver brought his sons along with him to watch his former teammates walk through their assignments in the padless practice. The Brown family took in practice mostly from the sideline, but midway through it, Brown ventured onto the field to mingle with the current players.
Afterward, he paid a quick visit to the few assembled media to catch up. Brown said he's enjoying his retirement, spending a lot of time with his kids and working on promoting Narragansett Beer, in which he recently purchased an ownership stake.
He admitted that he does miss his teammates, being in the locker room, and suiting up on game days, but he has no intention of coming out of retirement. He insisted he has no desire to take part in two-a-days, conditioning runs, or any other football workouts. Brown seemed a bit nostalgic, though, after he chatted with Tom Brady and Tedy Bruschi at the end of practice.
"I always miss it," he told reporters. "It's good to get out here and see them. I miss the guys. They're disappearing fast, too, all the guys I played with."
Brown was also asked for his thoughts on being named to the Patriots 50th Anniversary Team.
"Fifty years of players and to have my name on the list … I don't know what to say," Brown replied. "You work hard and … I never thought about being on a 50th anniversary team. It's quite an accomplishment to have my name mentioned in 50 years worth of players."
