RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesJul 28, 2026; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots tackle Caleb Lomu (74) does a drill during training camp at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
As Patriots first-round pick Caleb Lomu climbed the hill to the practice fields ahead of his first padded NFL practice, he admittedly felt some nerves.
Those feelings quickly disappeared once the hitting started, reminding Lomu of one key piece of advice he received beforehand.
“Just being a violent player,” Lomu said. “You’re going against another guy every single play. You’re hitting someone every single play. Now, with the pads, you can just be a little bit more violent. And so, that’s the mentality going into it.
“That’s what you got to have in your mind every single play. I can’t take any plays off. No rep is a coffee break. Just going out there every rep, every practice, and being violent, being a physical player.”
Lomu took the advice literally.
On his first rep of one-on-one pass rush drills, the rookie tackle held his ground against Bradyn Swinson before finishing the play by pushing the pass rusher to the ground.
While some questioned Lomu’s physicality coming out of the University of Utah, the rookie has embraced New England’s effort-and-finish mentality.
“Finishing is the biggest key as an offensive lineman. You have to be able to know what to do, and do it with a violent demeanor,” he said. “That’s my mentality going into every single rep, every play that we have, is just to finish longer than the guy.”
Through five training camp practices, Lomu has remained the Patriots’ top backup behind Will Campbell and Morgan Moses. Whenever the 35-year-old Moses is given time off, the rookie is often first up in his place at right tackle.
“Coming up here been switching around a lot of positions, but it’s just the same thing. You just got to flip the hands and the feet and then that’s really it. I feel super comfortable at right right now,” Lomu said. “It’s just got to get down the footwork and the hand techniques, but then it’s just football at the end of the day.”
To help carve out an early role for their first-round pick, the Patriots have also used Lomu as a jumbo tight end and gave him snaps at guard during the spring.
“He rarely makes the same mistake twice,” Vrabel said. “He practices hard. He tries to learn. He tries to fix mistakes.”
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