David Andrews offered a strong defense of Robert Kraft and the New England Patriots after an NFLPA report card graded the teams’s facilities among the worst in the league.
Andrews said that the survey doesn’t reflect the way he views the organization and its workplace environment.
“Any survey can be skewed,” he told the Boston Herald’s Karen Guregian. “There’s guys that may have only been in New England, guys that have maybe been with one other team, or 10 other teams who took the survey. There’s guys that have families, guys that don’t have families, whatever it may be.
“For me, I think…I’ve loved my time here. And I think everything in that building is designed to help us succeed, and to help us win.”
In the survey, Patriots’ players gave the team’s weight room a ‘D' grade, second-lowest in the league. They also gave the training room a ‘C-‘ grade, which was tied for 22nd.
However, New England's strength coaches earned a ‘B+' grade and their training staff received an ‘A' grade, which helped the Patriots rank 24th in overall working conditions as opposed to closer to the bottom.
Andrews focused much of his praise on the people he works with, while defending the resources they have.
“I’m grateful to be in that building. It’s got everything I need to be successful,” Andrews said. “The training staff, the equipment staff, every staff has always been great to me, and helped me out. I think there’s everything I need to succeed in there.”
The other damning element of the survey was that not too many Patriots players believe Kraft is willing to spend the money needed to upgrade the Patriots’ working conditions. Only 64 percent of players believe that Kraft is willing to do what it takes to upgrade the Patriots’ facilities, which ranked 26th in the league.
Andrews disagreed with that finding and thinks that Kraft is willing to do whatever it takes to help the team win.
“I think Mr. Kraft is super competitive. I think his focus is on winning, trying to win,” Andrews said. “And, like the coaches, is doing everything in his power to help us win. The Kraft family has been good to me.
“I’ll always have respect and appreciation for everything they’ve done…I can understand [some of the issues with the weight room, family room] but if you’ve only been to a few different teams, or one team, you might not know what it’s like [elsewhere]. But sometimes, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.”
The good news for Patriots players is they’re expected to receive an upgraded strength room as part of renovations to Gillette Stadium, which should be completed by the start of the 2023 season.
They still received relatively poor grades in other areas beyond the strength and training rooms though, earning a ‘D+' grade in team travel and ‘C-‘ grades in treatment of families and the locker room.
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