For a brief moment during the first week of free agency it looked like David Andrews was on his way out of Foxborough. After the Patriots signed Ted Karras early on, it seemed to be a signal that Andrews might be following fellow teammate Joe Thuney to a new team. Comments from teammates on social media all seemed to point to his departure, until suddenly, Andrews was back in the mix with New England, assuring the team captain and key cog would remain the man in the middle upfront for the Pats.
"We're super excited to be back, super excited to see all the new faces we've added, especially now that the draft just ended," said Andrews on Tuesday morning, meeting with the media via Webex. "This is home, it's a special place to me."
Andrews' leadership and experience will be counted on heavily this season after losing Thuney, but two familiar faces returned to the Patriots in the offseason and should help any potential transition, starting with Karras.
"Teddy's a great teammate and become a great friend of mine," said Andrews of his then and now teammate. "Excited to work with him, you get a friend back. You lost one in Joe, you get Teddy back."
Along with Karras is monstrous tackle Trent Brown, who helped lead the Patriots to the Super Bowl title in 2018. After two years away, Andrews admitted Brown's size was newly shocking to him
"You forget how big Trent is," said Andrews. "I kind of got used to it in 2018 and then I saw him the other day, he was lying down, getting some treatment, I just could not believe how big that human is.
"He's a great player... physical, big."
Brown will combine with Isaiah Wynn at the tackle spots this season, with Wynn just securing his fifth year with the Pats after they reportedly picked up his option on Monday. Teammates going back to college, Andrews appreciated what Wynn brings to the group.
"He can do a lot of different things with his athleticism," pointed out Andrews. "It's interesting to watch him, I enjoy it because people say his size doesn't benefit him but then you watch him block the crap out of people."
With the 2020 season in the rearview mirror, things are starting to get back to normal around the NFL. Despite the continuation of some restrictions and guidelines, Andrews was glad to get the chance to start working together with his teammates in the spring, something many NFL players lamented the lack of last year during the initial outbreak of COVID-19.
That, coupled with a major free agent haul and eight draft picks, had Andrews energized to get going.
"You gotta be excited looking at it," said Andrews. "Now it comes down to the stuff people don't want to talk about, how much work you put in now over the next few months. Learning to work together. We just have to become a team."
