The New England Patriots’ first organized team activities practice session of the spring was pushed back because, well, you’ve probably heard.

Patriots special teams meetings scheduled during the voluntary portion of the offseason workout program would have extended players’ time at Gillette Stadium past the maximum four-hour allowance, so two OTAs practices were docked.

Reporters were scheduled to watch their first Patriots practice of the spring on Thursday, May 25. Now, Wednesday May 31 will be the first open OTAs. We’ve already previewed players and positional battles to watch. So, here are 22 thoughts before Wednesday’s practice:

1. This is a team that could have used those two extra OTAs sessions. Will they make or break the 2023 season? Absolutely not. But Mac Jones now has his third offensive play-caller in Bill O’Brien of his three-year NFL career, and the unit could have used the extra practice reps. Joe Judge continues to sabotage the offense even after having quarterback coach duties removed from his job description.

2. One of the Patriots’ most intriguing rookies is UDFA quarterback Malik Cunningham. We likely won’t get a great look at him since he’ll be sharing No. 3 QB duties with Trace McSorely.

3. Mac Jones is in a quarterback competition. We’ll find out just how legitimately it is this week based on whether or not Bailey Zappe gets first-team reps. Jones needs to take a major step forward from the 2022 season to even meet his 2021 level of play.

4. If we had to guess, 2022 fourth-round pick Pierre Strong will probably still be running behind Rhamondre Stevenson, James Montgomery and Ty Montgomery in running back drills. It would be nice to see him take a significant leap in Year 2 to grab hold of the third-down role.

5. It will be interesting to see who’s the top receiver getting reps behind JuJu Smith-Schuster and DeVante Parker and whether that player is Tyquan Thornton, Kendrick Bourne or tight end Mike Gesicki.

6. All eyes will be on rookie wide receivers Kayshon Boutte and Demario Douglas in their limited reps. It would be nice for Jones and O’Brien to see one of the 2023 sixth-round picks find a role in their rookies seasons.

7. Starting right guard Mike Onwenu reportedly isn’t expected to be on the field following an offseason surgery. Who’s in his place? Is it someone safe like James Ferentz, or is now the time to get a rookie like Sidy Sow or Atonio Mafi acclimated into the starting offense? Another option would be to move veteran tackle Riley Reiff to right guard (for now) and put swing tackle Calvin Anderson in his place at right tackle.

8. That being said, do we know Reiff is at right tackle and Trent Brown is at left tackle? We’ll find out Wednesday.

9. There’s almost nothing to glean off of offensive line play in unpadded practices. But the unit is in better hands with Adrian Klemm as offensive line coach after taking over for Matt Patricia.

10. Ditto for defensive line play. We expect rookie Keion White to play defensive end. Let’s see if he gets any reps inside at defensive tackle, as well. He has the size at 6-foot-5, 285 pounds.

11. We’ll see if Marte Mapu is on the field yet after a pectoral injury kept him out of pre-draft drills. He wasn’t pictured in rookie minicamp galleries.

12. Chris Board is mostly known as a special-teams ace, but he did play defense in stops with the Baltimore Ravens and Detroit Lions. With Raekwon McMillan on injured reserve, there’s a defensive role for Board to grab.

Let’s do some rapid-fire questions about the secondary:

13. Is 2023 first-round pick Christian Gonzalez a starter?

14. Is Jalen Mills a safety?

15. Who takes over for retired Devin McCourty at free safety?

16. Is Myles Bryant still the top slot cornerback?

17. Who’s getting more reps between Jack Jones and Marcus Jones?

18. Is Jonathan Jones a slot cornerback or outside cornerback? Is Marcus Jones a slot cornerback or outside cornerback?

Let’s move over to special teams briefly.

19. The Patriots have two kickers in Chad Ryland and Nick Folk, two punters in Bryce Baringer and Corliss Waitman and two long snappers in Joe Cardona and Tucker Addington. Who’s first up in reps at kicker? Ryland should win the job as a fourth-round pick. But he has to beat out a pretty good veteran in Folk.

20. Baringer has an easier competition to win against Waitman, but it still wouldn’t be surprising to see Waitman get the first shot in drills.

21. Fair or not, all eyes will be on how Mac Jones interacts with O’Brien and head coach Bill Belichick after some of his outbursts last season.

22. The Patriots have experienced coaches on offense in O’Brien, defense in Steve Belichick and Jerod Mayo and on special teams in Joe Judge and Cam Achord. So, where is Bill Belichick going to spend the majority of his time? There was a session last spring when Belichick spent most of his time talking to a guest.

Featured image via Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports