Rookie minicamp wasn’t a crash course in the Patriot Way for Troy center Jake Andrews, who joined New England in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft.

Andrews’ offensive-line coach with the Trojans in 2022, Cole Popovich, spent five seasons on Bill Belichick’s staff in New England.

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“We watched a lot of Patriots film, and he talked about them all the time,” Andrews said. “He used a lot of good examples from a lot of great players that have come through there that he had plenty of time with, which he made examples out of that for us. He gave us insight into what it means to be great and what it means to be a Patriot in general. He tried to mold us into that in the best way he could, so, yes, a lot of experience he tried to implement into us from the Patriots.”

A 2017 All-State selection at Stanhope Elmore High School in Millbrook, Andrews earned All-Sun Belt recognition with Troy in 2022.

“I like to be physical and tough,” Andrews said. “One thing that we like to say all the time in offensive line and why I have really matured this past year is being ‘all-day tough,’ and that’s kind of one of the things we always talked about.”

The Patriots chose three offensive linemen in a span of 37 selections early on the third day of the 2023 NFL Draft, taking Andrews at No. 107, Eastern Michigan’s Sidy Sow at No. 117 and UCLA’s Atonio Mafi at No. 144.

Matt Groh, the Patriots’ director of player personnel, said, “You can say we drafted three guards,” but then said that wasn’t really the case.

“Good versatility there between the three of them,” Groh said. “Jake having played guard and center, Atonio really being more of a guard, and then stretching out to Sidy playing guard and tackle in his career, so three good guys to bring a real hard-nosed attitude here to the offensive line. …

“One thing you look at: A lot of good teams that we’ve had around here and certainly if you look at those two teams who are playing on the final weekend this year, you can’t have enough good offensive linemen, so it’s just something that you can never have enough of. And if you don’t have enough, it’s going to be really hard on you, so looking forward to getting these guys in the mix, and they are just going to have to come in here and compete with the rest of the crew.”

New England returns four starters from its 2022 offensive line – left tackle Trent Brown, left guard Cole Strange, center David Andrews and right guard Michael Onwenu. Right tackle was a problem for the Patriots last season, and, in an attempt to address it, they signed Riley Reiff, who has 149 NFL regular-season starts.

New England also brought in Adrian Klemm as offensive-line coach. Last season, Matt Patricia coached the Patriots’ offensive linemen while also calling the plays and acting as unnamed offensive coordinator.

“These guys will move around,” Groh said about the draft additions to the offensive line. “As another saying goes around here: ‘The more you can do.’ So looking forward to having those guys and seeing what they can do at multiple spots.”

Before working at center in 2022, Jake Andrews started at right guard for Troy in 2020 and 2021.

“I was always a swing guy,” Andrews said. “When I got there, I always had to know center. Even when I had two years at guard, I had to know how to play center, just in case. And then this past year, obviously playing center for the whole entire season, it was a really good transition and was something that I wanted to do to show that I was versatile, to show that I could snap the ball and make calls and identify defenses, so it was a pretty smooth transition for me, especially with the help of coach Popovich.”

The former Troy standout’s addition to New England’s roster gives the Patriots an Andrews and Andrews line on the depth chart at center with David and Jake.

“Believe it or not, that’s my uncle’s name,” Jake Andrews said about David Andrews, “so, yes, it is awesome. He has been there for a long time, played a lot of really good football, and I watched him growing up when he was in Georgia, so I’m really excited to get to work with him, learn a little bit from him and pick his brain about some pieces of his game.”

On Monday, the Patriots started Phase 3 of their offseason program, during which teams are allowed to conduct 10 days of organized team practice activity, often referred to as OTAs. No live contact is permitted, but teams can expand their workouts to include 7-on-7, 9-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.