Lance Kendricks: “No-brainer” to join the Patriots

[Pat Patriot]

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A week ago, veteran tight end Lance Kendricks was thinking about retiring. Then came a call from the Patriots.

“This is a special place, obviously,” Kendricks told reporters on Saturday. “This is a championship team. They know how to play football. They know how to win games. They know how to do it the right way, so it’s a no-brainer.”

Kendricks said that the Patriots were “pretty much the only team that reached out.” He spent his rookie season in St. Louis, where Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels worked at the time. Now, Kendricks gets a chance to experience life with the six-time Super Bowl champions.

“I think it kind of confirms that they’re obviously a championship team for a reason,” Kendricks said. “On and off the field, the Patriots handle their business the right way.”

So what does Kendricks see that makes the Patriots a championship-caliber team?

“I think Coach Bill [Belichick] just sets the tone right away,” Kendricks said. “Before we come out to practice he tells you what it is and what it should be and we come out here and we do it that way, and if it’s not that way we’ve got to come out and fix it and we can’t make a mistake more than once.”

Kendricks fills a clear need in New England, given the retirement of Rob Gronkowski and the looming four-game suspension of Benjamin Watson. In fact, the return of Watson eventually could end up costing Kendricks his roster. And if Gronkowski decides to unretire, the chances of Kendricks not being on a team that may win its seventh Super Bowl could fall even lower.