The New England Patriots are one of the most successful franchises in sports history becuase they are careful about what players they add to their roster. During the week of the NFL Combine, Jared Pinkney claimed that New England blasted him for his mentality.

“It’s interesting, because (with) a team that’s been winning for as long as they have you expect them to come in with a certain mentality and to share that mentality and to spread it and impart it on you,” Pinkney said via Zach Cox of NESN.com. “And that’s exactly what happened. I gave a kind of wonky answer, and it was like, ‘No, that’s a loser’s mentality.’ And I was like, ‘OK, my bad.’ (raises hands) They were like, ‘You need to be like this and that and that,’ and I was like, ‘Yes, sir. I’m better.’ ”

When meetings occur during the week of the NFL Combine, there are always stories of interesting situations with teams. There's no doubt Pinkney was part of a peculiar happening with the Patriots.

The tight end out of Vanderbilt understood the reasoning behind New England's approach. Therefore, he definitely seems open to the idea of being selected by the Patriots in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Pinkney is one of the best tight end prospects in this year's draft. In his final season at Vanderbilt, he hauled in 20 receptions for 233 yards and two touchdowns. However, his production in 2018 is the reason why he's considered to be an intriguing prospect.

The Patriots noticeably missed Rob Gronkowski in their offense in 2019 and are in the market for a tight end this offseason. Even though he had an awkward encounter with them, Pinkney could hear his name called by the Patriots in April.