In at least one respect, it seems like the practice squad has more responsibilities than their teammates on the active roster. The scout team (a.k.a. show team) is the collection of players who mimic the opposing team's offense, defense, and special teams units when the coaches want to simulate game conditions at practice.

They are, in effect, scouting the opposing team by showing their teammates how the opponents line up and execute their plays. Here, the practice squad gets an opportunity to showcase what it can do versus the starters, or first-team players – the "ones."

"When I go against our defense, I have to give the look the other team gives. And I have to go hard so these guys get the work in."

Yet, as Barker also indicates, not only does a practice squad player have to learn the opponent's plays, he must also stay abreast of his own team's game plan. Practice squad players occasionally get repetitions with the first-team unit in practice, not only as a token reward for hard work, but as an insurance policy in case a starter is unavailable for whatever reason. The coaching staff needs to know what a player is capable or incapable of in the event of an emergency.

"We all get a chance to run plays. We're running the actual plays that the offense runs," Sankey confirms. "The only difference is, obviously, not really getting a chance to play in the game. That being said, you still get a chance to work with the offense in the regular scheme and everything.

"It's definitely different, but you've just got to keep a positive mindset with each day and give it the best you can. You still have a part on the team, it's just that your role is a little different. How you can help the team get better is by practicing hard and giving good [scout team] looks for the defense or for the offense. You have to look at it in a positive light. At Tennessee, it was the same way."

"I still have to focus in the meetings," adds Barker. "I still have to know what's going on for this week, what our game plan is."

Because when you're on the Patriots' practice squad, you truly never know when you might receive that long-awaited call.

A SHADOWY EXISTENCE

While Brady, Gronkowski, and other stars live in the limelight, the practice squad dwells – quite literally – in relative darkness. By coincidence or design, the neighborhood of stalls that most Patriots practice squad players inhabit is the most dimly lit corner of New England's locker room. It's an area where few reporters, cameras, and microphones ever venture, and that's exactly how some on the practice squad prefer it.

"I'm okay with it," Barker insists, "because I'm a low-key guy anyway. I don't like answering a whole bunch of [media] questions. It doesn't hurt my feelings that I don't get asked questions."

"I like not having any [media] attention," echoes Reilly, who came to Foxborough earlier this season. He places a gentle hand on your shoulder to reassure you he means no offense.

"You seem like a nice guy, but I'd much rather not talk to anybody and just come here, do my job, and go home. Listen, man, when you're a bottom-of-the-roster guy… there's not a big difference between you and the practice squad. So, I've become accustomed to that. I enjoy that. I see the hell some of these guys go through every day [with the media]. You can't mess up and say the wrong thing. It makes a difference. Not having that pressure is nice."

Although they may enjoy flying under most observers' radar, practice squad players are by no means irrelevant to the Patriots' coaching staff.

"I prepare like I'm going to play that week, because you never know," Barker maintains. "People get injured and they can move you up [to the 53-man active roster]. If they want me to do something else, I'll do it for them."

"There's always that opportunity to get called up," Sankey notes. "You've got to keep that in your mind and stay ready because you never know when your name will be called."

Or when you'll be shown the door.

PATIENCE CAN PAY OFF

Toiling in practice squad obscurity comes with a price.

Six thousand, nine hundred dollars, to be precise.

That is the weekly minimum wage a 2016 NFL practice squad player earned. It will increase moderately in 2017.

Unlike many organizations that pay their employees biweekly throughout the calendar year, NFL payroll distributions occur weekly, but only during the regular season (with the exception of certain offseason, preseason, and postseason bonuses and stipends).

For some players, $6,900 is the biggest paycheck they'll ever see, and they're lucky to collect more than a handful of them. Multiply that $6,900 figure over a 17-week season, however, and you arrive at a handsome annual salary of $117,300 – if, of course, a player is able to remain on a team or teams for that long.

In most cases, that's extremely difficult, given the dizzying number of player transactions, many involving the practice squad, that NFL teams make each week. The instability can be nerve-wracking.

"You just have to control what you can control, take it day by day and week by week. Do the best you can," Sankey advises. "At the end of the day, if you know you're giving it your all on the practice field, making plays at practice, you can't ask any more of yourself. Just try to remain positive about it, even though the reality is you don't know when you're going to be here and when you're not.

"Just show up each day," he smiles, "and be a professional."

It can be difficult to grin and bear it, though, when most of your active roster teammates are making considerably more than you. While $117,300 is an exorbitant minimum wage to most observers, contrast that with the $450,000 minimum annual salary owed to all NFL rookies in 2016. The NFL's minimum wage pay scale then increases proportionately with the number of years of service a player has accrued. Veterans of 10 or more NFL seasons must be paid at least a million dollars each year, approximately.

If a practice squad player is promoted to the active roster, he gets a significant bump in pay. When he is released and re-signed to a practice squad (a player can't simply be sent directly back down), his payroll number plummets, in most cases. Seeing your paycheck fluctuate so much must be aggravating; some players keep it in perspective.

"For me, it's a little different," Reilly explains, "because I save my money. What they pay me here, I can easily live off of. Yeah, it sucks not making the active money, but it's better than not making anything. It's still a six-figure salary. If you can't live off that, that's your problem."

Reilly turns 29 this month. The Utah native is older than most practice squad players because he took a few years off from football, from 2007-09, to travel overseas on a Mormon mission. He's married, with three children, and his practice squad eligibility is diminishing.

"I'll find a job if no one wants me in the NFL," he declares. "I don't have a choice. I'll find something else."

For now, he needn't worry. On Dec. 19, Reilly was plucked off New England's practice squad by the Miami Dolphins. He appeared in the regular season finale against the Patriots, even making a tackle on a kickoff. With his new job, he earns a weekly pay raise and will receive a sizeable bonus check for having been on the Dolphins' active roster during this year's playoffs.

But not every practice squad player is as philosophical or as fortunate as Reilly or tight end Matt Lengel, whom New England signed off Cincinnati's practice squad earlier this season. Lengel had never appeared in an NFL game before arriving in Foxborough, but now finds himself with a modicum of job security for the time being as the only tight end on the Patriots active roster besides Martellus Bennett. His role in the offense has increased with each passing week.

Yet, for every Reilly or Lengel, there's a Shaquelle Evans, Da'Ron Brown, Ian Silberman, Quentin Gause – guys you've probably never heard of before and might never again. These are all players who, at various times during the 2016 season, donned Patriots uniforms as members of the practice squad. They were barely here long enough for the ink on their $6,900 paychecks to dry.