Patriots rookie jersey numbers still not a priority in Foxboro

FOXBORO -- For any football player, making the NFL is a dream come true. And that first day of receiving a real NFL jersey and a uniform number is the moment when a lifetime of work and dedication comes together.

In Foxboro, though, it just takes a little bit longer for that dream to actualize.

For the past several years, Patriots rookies have been unceremoniously welcomed to the NFL with numbers that are ... a bit ugly. The Patriots' top pick has been assigned No. 50, and each subsequent pick and undrafted rookie free agent has gotten the next number. It's led to cornerback Christian Gonzalez and wide receiver N'Keal Harry wearing No. 50 for their first training camps, running back Sony Michel and wide receiver Tyquan Thornton wearing No. 51 for their first camps, and so on. 

Currently, the star of training camp -- Demario Douglas -- is rocketing around the field while wearing No. 60. Bryce Baringer is booming some majestic punts while wearing No. 59. Most famously, Mac Jones donned No. 50 when taking the field for his first NFL practice action, looking distinctly out of place as a quarterback.

It's not until the first preseason games that rookies are given real numbers that are appropriate for their position. Even then, those numbers are subject to change, as more numbers become available for rookies after the final cuts are made at the end of the preseason. Still, there's something special about that real NFL jersey with a real jersey number.

It seems to be a bit of an old-school, earn-your-spot type of tradition in Foxboro. And while it's surely a concoction that only Bill Belichick could think of, the head coach downplayed the matter on Monday morning.

"It just organizes it," Belichick said when asked about the system prior to the first fully padded practice session of the summer. "I don't think the numbers are the most important thing we do right now. We're trying to learn how to play football."

It may not be the most important thing, but nothing Belichick does is by accident or change. Based on this particular process lasting for several years running, it's clearly a process that Belichick values.

As for the rookies, who got their first taste of live NFL hitting on Monday, they'll be realizing all of those NFL dreams next week, when the Patriots host the Houston Texans for their first game of the preseason.