New England Patriots defensive lineman Michael Bennett, left, speaks with quarterback Tom Brady, right, during NFL football training camp, Sunday, July 28, 2019, in Foxborough, Mass. ▲

FOXBORO – Typically, Tom Brady walks up the big concrete stairs leading up to the Gillette Stadium practice fields while talking to a teammate. This happens almost every day at a Patriots practice. This offseason, one of people he's been talking to has been Michael Bennett.

For the new Patriots defensive end, these walks to the practice field have been invaluable.

"Tom is the greatest player to play in the NFL. The opportunity to just talk life, Tom has a lot of experience that I haven't experienced. I have some experiences he hasn't experienced," Bennett said. "I think just being fathers and being husbands, talking about life, that's the great thing you can do with your teammate is learn about him as an individual. You see people from the outside and you want to get to know them as a person. I think Tom does a great job of connecting with his teammates every single day. personally, I think that's been good for me to be able to come in and have a guy like Tom talking about stories, having a good time."

Brady, of course, played with Bennett's brother Martellus Bennett for one and a half seasons. When Martellus joined the Patriots, he made it a goal to get to know his new teammates so he carpooled to practice every day in the summer with someone new.

This offseason, Michael Bennett said it's been a goal to him to not only get to know his new teammates, but for them to learn about him. That's part of the reason why he's enjoyed talking with Brady during these pre-practice walks.

"Football takes care of itself, but building that camaraderie with your teammates, that's the most important thing for me on this team, to earn everybody's trust in the top of the organization from the media staff to the training staff," Bennett said. "Just let them know what type of individual I am and try to do that every single day. I think talking to Tom allows me to do that. I'll take those days because you never know when you get a chance to talk to guys like that and have that type of time, it's cool. He takes time to get to know me as an individual and I love that."