Jakob Johnson attempts to replace his mentor James Develin

FOXBORO – Prior to the first day of training camp, recently retired fullback James Develin sent out a message to his fellow Patriots fullbacks and tight ends. Devin was fired up and wanted his teammates to be fired up for the first practice in full pads.

For fullback Jakob Johnson, it served as a nice motivational boost.

"I mean, it's always good to know, when you have a great in a game like that, and you know that he's watching," Jakob Johnson said. "And so we're [...]

FOXBORO – Prior to the first day of training camp, recently retired fullback James Develin sent out a message to his fellow Patriots fullbacks and tight ends. Devin was fired up and wanted his teammates to be fired up for the first practice in full pads.

For fullback Jakob Johnson, it served as a nice motivational boost.

"I mean, it's always good to know, when you have a great in a game like that, and you know that he's watching," Jakob Johnson said. "And so we're all in the tight end room. We know the legacy of the room. Great people that played this position here, this team. So we're just trying to uphold the standard."

Last season, Johnson did the improbable when he made the Patriots practice squad. After being placed on the team by the NFL's International Player Pathway program, the Pats could’ve kept him on the roster for free (with an extra roster space) just to give this native of Germany some NFL experience.

Not only did Johnson legitimately make the practice squad, but was briefly called up to the 53-man roster when Develin suffered a season-ending neck injury. The feel-good story didn’t last long. Johnson suffered a shoulder injury and also landed on the injured reserve after five games played.

Times, however, have changed. After Develin retired, the Patriots signed veteran fullback Dan Vitale. Vitale opted out last month and that puts Johnson ahead of everyone on the fullback depth chart. Johnson still represents a feel-good story, but knows he has to work in order to adequately replace Develin.

"Well, it's the NFL. You know, things change," Johnson said. "On a personal level, James Devlin was a great mentor to me. Always helped me and the other rookies along. A great guy to learn from. Amazing guy off the field and on the field. But besides that, when it comes to roster moves, I've learned that's just the way it goes in the NFL. And you just adapt and you focus on yourself and what you have to do."

mdaniels@providencejournal.com

On Twitter: @MarkDanielsPJ