Olympic sprinter Jeff Demps

Rookie Jeff Demps fabricated his much-anticipated admission at Patriots convenance Wednesday, as New England and Tampa Bay captivated the aboriginal of two collective practices afore their exhibition bold Friday night.

The above Florida Gator, cutting No. 42, did not yield allotment in the pre-draft action this year, opting to focus on clue and the adventitious to run in the London Olympics.

Despite finishing seventh at the US trials in the 100 meters, Demps, the 2010 NCAA 100-meter best and a three-time NCAA calm 60-meter titlist, was allotment of the aggregation and was able to run for the United States.

He was the advance leg on the -4 x 100 aggregation in the basic round, abutting Darvis Patton, Trell Kimmons, and Justin Gatlin to run an American-record time of 37.38 seconds. A day later, Kimmons, Gatlin, Tyson Gay, and Ryan Bailey accomplished additional to Jamaica in the final, acceptable the argent badge in addition American-record time.

With the Olympics over and his badge in his Gainesville, Fla., house, Demps angry his absorption aback to football. He chose to assurance with New England over several added teams, including Tampa Bay and the Jets.

Still asthmatic from putting in added time active routes and communicable passes with Brian Hoyer and a affiliate of the apprenticeship staff, Demps told reporters that the convenance apparent the aboriginal time he’d affected a football aback Florida’s endure bold of endure season, in the Gator Bowl Jan. 2.

If you’re befitting track, that’s a amount of 232 days.

Both Demps and active backs drillmaster Ivan Fears said accepting aback into football appearance will be one of the better challenges for the 22-year-old.

“That’s apparently traveling to be the toughest part, just accepting aback into that football appearance and acquirements the plays,” Demps said.

The Gators’ abhorrent coordinator endure abatement was above Patriots coordinator Charlie Weis, so Demps does accept some acquaintance with the New England offense.

“Some of the plays I recognize, and some of them I don’t,’’ he said. “Being with Charlie, it absolutely helped me out, advancing in and alive some of the run plays, some of the canyon plays.”

He reportedly absent 15 pounds during training for the Olympics. On Wednesday, Demps said he is at 183 pounds, 5 pounds beneath his accepted arena weight; his adventures on the Florida website for his chief year lists the 5-foot-7-inch Demps’s weight as 191.

Fears believes accepting into football appearance won’t be as difficult for Demps as it would be for a lineman.

“A accomplishment guy can play a lot faster than big guys can,” Fears said. “For him, it’s mostly just accepting his anxiety up beneath him, accepting a little wind aback in his lungs, accepting acclimated to communicable the ball.

“I’m abiding it won’t yield that continued for a guy like him. He’s such a abundant athlete, just based on what I’ve apparent on film.”

With training camps now bankrupt to the public, media are aswell belted on how continued they can watch practice; on Wednesday, it was 30 minutes. In that time, reporters saw Demps plan with the alpha returners, receivers, backs, and bound ends.

It wasn’t flawless; a bouncing alpha went through his easily as he angled to retrieve it, and the aboriginal canyon befuddled his way in warm-ups aswell went through his hands.

Fears did acquisition positives, however.

“He did a accomplished job, I threw him in the one-on-ones and assault auto and all that stuff; he’s courageous,” said Fears, abacus that Demps is not a anemic guy admitting his slight size.

Demps had no issues with the one-on-ones, but acclaimed that “the guys are a lot bigger.” Having run calm clue and alfresco clue his aboriginal three years at Florida (he did not run bounce clue as a senior), Demps said he is acclimated to transitioning amid the sports, and alleged himself “a football amateur first.”

While Patriots admirers are aflame about Demps’s arrival, and Fears’s aboriginal consequence of him as a adolescent man is positive, he’ll accept to acquire aggregate with his new drillmaster — argent badge or not.

“I’m not traveling to go overboard. What he’s done has been absolutely amazing and a abundant story, but out here, I ain’t giving him nothing!” said Fears (mostly serious). “He’s traveling to acquire aggregate he gets from us.

“No amount how I feel about him, unless he does it on the field, he’s not accepting aggregate else.”