First, let’s get the obvious out of the way: Anthony Shriver is no Aaron Schobel.

But to see quarterback Tom Brady stand in the pocket, evade would-be defenders like Shriver, move without a problem and throw passes on the run Friday night at his charity touch-football game at Harvard Stadium was to look at a quarterback who appears to be recovering nicely from offseason foot surgery on Jan. 20 to take care of a stress fracture. We watched him very closely (both at Harvard, and, when we could see him through the bars at BC, with his teammates at Alumni Stadium), and he was moving without a hitch. He remains a master of misdirection when it comes to throwing people off the scent of an injury, but it’s worth saying that there was no limp, no discernible problem with his motion and no apparent issues with his mechanics.

We have already told you that he should be ready to go when/if training camp opens in July, and on Friday the quarterback sounded an optimistic note when he was asked about his health, saying, “I feel good, good enough to run around here and have fun. I’m excited for football season.”

Here are four other things we learned from a week of locked-out Patriots football:

The rookies who showed up for the players-only practices at Boston College built up some currency with their veteran counterparts.

This rookie class was put into an unenviable position: even though you’re unsigned, show up for the players’ workouts and run the risk of an injury, which could threaten your professional career before it even got started. Or, don’t show and take a chance alienating your veteran brethren. It’s not known why some of the first-year players showed and some didn’t, but the ones who were in attendance not only got a brief taste of NFL life, they also managed to impress the veterans. Based on everything they have already missed out on, there should be diminished expectations for this year’s rookie class, at least early on. But the fact they were there (and the fact that top pick Nate Solder showed up on Friday at Brady’s charity game) will go a long way in the locker room when/if training camp rolls around in July.

This is shaping up to be quite a year for Jerod Mayo.

The transformation of Jerod Mayo has been fascinating to watch since he arrived in the spring of 2008. In three seasons, Mayo has gone from deferential rookie to absolutely irreplaceable veteran, and based on his growth, it's clear he is now poised to enter that rarified air inhabited by middle/inside linebackers like Ray Lewis. (In fact, the only thing that might hold him back from making him a true household name across the NFL is the fact that he has zero interest in anything other than football — and that includes things like off-the-field endorsement opportunities.)

But it's not just the on-field numbers that will make Mayo a truly special talent. He has served as captain before, but now it appears that now his transformation into full-on leader is complete, at least from what we witnessed this week. He was the guy running the show when the players were getting together in the area for the last month for workouts, and peeking between the bars this week at Boston College, there was no doubt as to who was running the defensive drills — Mayo was calling out signals, telling people where to be and unafraid to shout out directions. Veterans like Vince Wilfork were deferential to the linebacker. At one point, when there was a defensive breakdown, he instructed some teammates to drop down to the ground for pushups. It’s early in the process, but it certainly appears that Mayo has evolved into the lead voice for the New England defense in 2011.

If I had to judge right now, I’d say Kevin Faulk would be back in a Patriots’ uniform in 2011.

These things are always tough to judge — especially in shorts and T-shirts in a relatively low-intensity session like the Patriots had this week — but Kevin Faulk looked like someone who was working toward playing in 2011. The running back had a sad and sorrowful end to the 2010 season, tearing up his knee in a September loss to the Jets, but was on the field, working up a sweat with his teammates this week. He looked like he was moving smoothly without any issues, and even stopped by to chat (albeit briefly) with the media after Thursday's session.

"I'm fine," Faulk said on Thursday when asked how he's feeling. "I'm trying to get back into form, that's all. ... It's football. It's an injury that happened a while ago. That's why they've got technology with doctors. [The medical field] is advanced right now, so just pray to God and keep going on. That's all."

If he feels good enough to go, it's likely that Faulk, who turned 35 over the weekend, would be offered a one-year deal to play in 2011. It remains to be seen what he can bring to the field — and how he and fellow third-down option Danny Woodhead would co-exist on the same roster for a full season — but Faulk's on-field numbers are only a small sliver when it comes to his true worth to the franchise. The undersized back has always been a favorite of his teammates and the media — only Brady engenders more respect in the locker room, and his no-nonsense delivery has made him a favorite with those who cover the team. His loss would leave a gaping hole in the New England locker room.

Uncertainty looms on the horizon.

So what’s next? In a normal year, the second week of June is usually the jumping off point into the fallow portion of the NFL calendar — the roughly six-week stretch between the end of June minicamps (usually during the first two weeks of June) and the start of training camp is traditionally the slowest part of the year in professional football, with players and coaches taking the time for one last chance at some rest and relaxation before the grind of the NFL season begins.

Away from the negotiating table, it will be interesting to see what sort of action there is on the lockout-ravaged landscape between now and the end of July. Will we see more players-only workouts or practices? That appears likely, although chances are they will be scaled back. Locally, Brady figures to return to California to continue with his offseason program, and by reading the tweets of many of his teammates, many of those who were in the area for the workouts at BC and for his charity event returned to their offseason homes on Sunday. As a result, it appears that, at least for now, there will be no more players-only workouts on the scale that we saw this past week.