Jerod Mayo makes player-friendly decision that Bill Belichick wasn't willing to

For 24 years, it was Bill Belichick making all the decision in New England. And one of those choices was what time to start training camp.

Belichick always had it at 9:30 a.m. ET, but now Jerod Mayo has decided to push it back to 11 a.m. ET.

And he has a very solid reason for doing so.

"For me, I thought it was important that we had adequate meeting time in the morning, right before we've toughed the field," Mayo explained. "And honestly I think the guys appreciate that.

"They want to make sure that they tighten all the screws and know exactly what to do... that was the mindset."

It really is the sign of a new era in Foxborough.

"And so when you have those earlier practices, look we're in New England. We're not in New Orleans or anything like that. But when you look at those earlier practices, it just takes a lot of time the night before and you don't know if those guys really retain it the next day," Mayo added. "So I wanted to give those guys the opportunity to really brush up.

Along with later start times, the Patriots also announced that they will have a star lineup of alumni returning during each day of open practices.

List of Alumni

July 24 - Rob Ninkovich & Ted Johnson

July 25 - Sony Michel

July 26 - Danny Amendola

July 28 -Patrick Chung & Brian Hoyer

July 29 - Rex Burkhead

July 30 - Marcus Cannon

August 1 - Dan Koppen

August 2 - Brandon Mitchell

August 3 - James White

August 12 - Damien Harris

August 13 - Deion Branch & Corey Dillon

Full Patriots training camp schedule

Wednesday, July 24

• 10:00 AM – Gates Open
• 11:00 AM – Practice Begins

Thursday, July 25

• 10:00 AM – Gates Open
• 11:00 AM – Practice Begins

Friday, July 26

• 10:00 AM – Gates Open
• 11:00 AM – Practice Begins

Saturday, July 27 - NO PUBLIC PRACTICE

Sunday, July 28

• 10:00 AM – Gates Open
• 11:00 AM – Practice Begins

Monday, July 29

• 10:00 AM – Gates Open
• 11:00 AM – Practice Begins

Tuesday, July 30

• 10:00 AM – Gates Open
• 11:00 AM – Practice Begins

Wednesday, July 31 – NO PUBLIC PRACTICE

Thursday, August 1

• 10:00 AM – Gates Open
• 11:00 AM – Practice Begins

Friday, August 2

• 10:00 AM – Gates Open
• 11:00 AM – Practice Begins

Saturday, August 3

• 10:00 AM – Gates Open
• 11:00 AM – Practice Begins

Sunday, August 4 – NO PUBLIC PRACTICE

Monday, August 5

• 10:00 AM – Gates Open
• 11:00 AM – Practice Begins

Tuesday, August 6

• 10:00 AM – Gates Open
• 11:00 AM – Practice Begins

Wednesday, August 7 - Sunday, August 11 - NO PUBLIC PRACTICE

Monday, August 12

• 10:00 AM – Gates Open
• 11:00 AM – Practice Begins

Tuesday, August 13

• 10:00 AM – Gates Open
• 11:00 AM – Joint practice with the Philadelphia Eagles