Patriots’ New Project Has Underrated Benefit For Players, Families

NORWOOD, Mass. — The Patriots will spend the next few months trying to fix their roster, but that won’t be the only thing under construction at Gillette Stadium.

New England recently announced plans to construct a brand-new, stand-alone training facility for the exclusive use of the team. It’ll be a three-level structure that will more than double the square footage of the team’s current footprint located at One Patriot Place — featuring a nutrition center, a player lounge, an open-space locker room, an expanded weight room that will open directly onto three redesigned practice fields, new offices and, potentially, a space for families to gather on the day of games.

Andressa Jones hopes so, anyway.

Andressa, who is the wife of Patriots cornerback Jonathan Jones, recently opened a space of her own to house children and families — “Joyville Indoor Playground” — and believes a facility provided by the team could go a long way in helping out families new to the area.

“It would be huge, because a lot of the wives on the team don’t really know the area — they don’t have people around here,” Andressa said Saturday. “It’s always nice to find a place we can all meet together, bring the kids — so doing it in the stadium is a great idea.”

The Patriots, for those who aren’t aware, were lambasted in the NFLPA’s last two “Player Team Report Cards.” New England ranked 29th out of 32 teams in 2024, with several votes coming directly from members of the organization in the anonymous 1,706-player survey.

Jonathan Jones can’t say he was one of them, but certainly does appreciate that changes are being made.

“It’s one thing the organization has done a great job of – realizing the support system of the player is important,” Jonathan said. “It’s obviously a business and they’re focused on winning football, but they understand that taking care of the family, taking care of the players’ support system makes it easier for the guys to focus on football. That’s something the organization has done a great job with.”

New England’s stand-alone facility will be something new to the organization, but not around the league. It’s just Robert Kraft’s way of keeping up with the times — though he was a tad late.