We’re waiting for the next New England Patriots cleat to drop as players began being allowed into the facility to report for training camp at Gillette Stadium Monday.

It felt like we were put on notice on Sunday when Devin McCourty spoke out on behalf of social justice and a lot of the great programs he wants to promote during the next few months, including awareness of miniority officers in police departments across the country and what they go through. And he pushed for change in the NFL with more minority hirings for head coaches, general managers, and ownership. Impressive, which is per usual for McCourty.

But the Patriots starting free safety. wasn’t taking any questions during the virtual team captains press conference. And then he slammed the NFL on its wavering opt-out deadline.

“A lot of respect to those guys, guys I’ve had a chance to play with over the years, who decided to opt out,” he said. “It’s a tough decision with everything that’s going on. … They made a hard decision, to forego your contract this year, not to have the opportunity to be around all the guys, how much fun we had. I have a lot of respect for all those guys…”

And then he slammed the NFL calling it an “absolute joke” the NFL changed the opt out period, with the deadline mid-week, to prevent others from doing the same.

“I’m sure they’re shocked by the number of guys who opted out,” he said. “But it’s the same thing when we sign a CBA, sometimes things we think are good, sometimes backfire.”

However, it appears that deadline may be extended to the end of the week as negotiations between the NFL and NFLPA were reportedly ongoing. We’ll see how McCourty and his brother Jason decide, if they haven’t already. The guess here is they would go through a couple of days and then right up to the deadline in making a decision.

“It comes down to us trying to do the right things,” Patriots running back James White said, adding he respects all the opt out decisions, and that everyone has to be cautious in the building.

White says the opt-outs don’t change the players’ approaches. “Every team has adjustments to make,” White said. “It’s going to be whoever comes in these six weeks or whatever it is, and puts the work in, is going to be the team to start off the best.

“We’re going to work as hard as we can to put the best product out there.”

Matthew Slater, who now is the longest tenured Patriot on the roster, admitted his decision to play was difficult. “It’s just a matter of us (his family and the Patriots) moving forward,” he said, citing how unprecedented all of this is. “You don’t have any experience to draw from.”

White said the Patriots as an organization have not pressured any of the players in the decision making process.

“Everybody’s decision is 100 percent completely up to them,” he said. “Do whatever they feel comfortable doing. There’s no pressure whatsoever.

“Everybody has their own unique family situations, health situations, they have to do what’s best for them. There’s no pressure from anyone whatsoever.”

David Andrews, with his health issues, made the surprising decision to play. It couldn’t have been easy.

McCourty is right about the NFL’s deadline. The league ought to extend things to mid-August so players can see for themselves if they’re in good hands.

“Hopefully we’ll see how everything turns out come Wednesday if it ends up being the deadline,” McCourty said. “I’m still out here having fun and seeing how things go.”

It’s just another week in this strange, strange time.

Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on twitter @Telegraph _TomK.

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