New Patriots tight end Dalton Keene is pretty in tune with how things roll in New England and he's pretty excited to get going.
The Virginia Tech product knows a little bit about the "Patriot Way," and he plans on fully adopting the philosophy as he gets acclimated after being selected by the Patriots in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft with the 101st pick overall.
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"I’ll start off with the Patriot Way, one that I have in the back of my mind just because I love the culture so much," Keene said on a conference call Saturday. "The winning culture and just taking it day by day and working hard. I think that really reflects me as a player. My coach just texted me today, Coach [Justin] Fuente, and he said basically that 'I have the uncanny ability to go to work every single day.' I thought that’s something that really reflects on this program as well."
Keene, 6-foot-4, 253 pounds, put together a strong three years at Virginia Tech with 748 yards and eight touchdowns.
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It seems that the Patriots have a knack for drafting some hard-working players. They selected linebacker Anfernee Jenkins out of Alabama with the 87th pick and even he discussed his maturity and ability to overcome adversity in his conference call on Saturday.
Keene joins another third-round selection at tight end taken Friday, UCLA's Devin Asiasi, as new Patriots. They're very familiar with each other.
“I’m actually really excited about that because I think we’ll complement each other really well,” Keene said. “I was actually roommates with him at the combine, so I got a chance to get to know him, and he’s an awesome guy. I’m really excited for him."