FOXBORO – The Patriots are entering uncharted territory in more ways than one. They, like everyone else, are getting used to a new set of rules in the post-lockout world. More specific to them, they are also entering the Chad Ochocinco era, and amidst the uncertainty that stems from a preseason that didn’t really follow an offseason and adding one of the biggest names (and mouths), they have enough players capable of leading them through it. 

At the helm is Tom Brady, who is coming off one of the greatest seasons in the history of the quarterback position (36 touchdowns with just four interceptions), but is also coming off his third consecutive playoff loss. Above all else, the two-time NFL MVP and three-time All-Pro seeks improvement from the entire roster, whether newcomers or long-tenured Patriots. 

“I think we’re all excited to be playing football again,” Brady said Friday. “We had a good day yesterday. As coach always says, we’ve got to string them together. It’s a long process. It’s a long season, a long camp. Coach talks about having a real short-term focus. There’s quite a few young players, new players, veteran players that all need to get on the same page. That’s what we’re working to do.”

It’s the same type of attitude the Patriots have brought into each training camp, but there is no denying the differences presented in this year’s camp. Given the lack of a true offseason due to the lockout, players have their own workouts rather than organized team activities under their belts.

“We’re trying to focus on what we can really control,” Brady said. “I know there’s been a lot of new rules put into place. Everyone’s really trying to get used to the rules and come out here and have good practices. 

“For the time that we’re out here, we ran a lot of plays yesterday, we’re going to run a lot of plays today, a lot of plays tomorrow. We’re use going to try to come out here and execute them, learn form them and go in there and make the corrections, and come out so we can be a better football team [at] the end of the day than we were at the start of it.”

Brady said Friday that given the leaguewide impact the lockout had, there is no team with an advantageous or disadvantage schedule-wise as far as training camps are concerned. While he may be correct from a literal standpoint, it’s a team like the Patriots that do have an advantage. Looking at where Ochocinco is coming from, the Bengals enter camp with a rookie set to be the starting quarterback and a team desperate for leaders. The Patriots, meanwhile, have Brady leading them as they quickly work to make up for lost time. 

“Everybody’s got to start from scratch this year,” Bill Belichick said Friday. “It doesn’t matter who it is – every coach, every player, rookie, veteran, none of us have worked with our teammates and that’s something that we have to do to have a good team, so that’s true for Tom and for everybody else that is on the football team. Everybody needs to come in, they need to be in condition, they need to get themselves ready to play, they need to play with their teammates in units and be able to go out and execute what their assignments are collectively together. That’s incumbent on all of us – guys with more experience have more experience, but they still have to go out there and be able to perform those things. Sometimes experience is a bit of an advantage, but you still have to go out there and perform your job.”

Prior to Friday afternoon’s practice session, Brady had never thrown a ball to Ochocinco. He threw to Chad Johnson in the 2005 Pro Bowl, but that was it. The newly acquired receiver had nothing thrown his way in the first session with the exception of greetings from teammates. Later in the afternoon, Ochocinco finally put on his Patriots jersey and, despite dropping a few passes from Brady, had the fans cheering his very presence.

Above all else, Brady sees a veteran player looking forward to doing something he didn’t do much of in Cincinnati: winning. It’s his attitude – not his antics – that Brady views as being something special, and something that belongs in New England.

“He’s just fun to be around. He loves football,” Brady said of Ochocinco. “That’s why guys do well here, because they love the game, they love to compete. They show up and they want to win. I think to be a good player on this team, you have to put the team first. The Troy Browns, the Tedy Bruschis and Rodney Harrisons, those guys always set a great example, and an example that I learned from over the years. That’s really what the veteran players have always tried to be here.”