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Ready for football, 12,393 fans show at Patriots' opening practice

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Where to start when it comes to the top storylines of the first practice of New England Patriots training camp?

The quarterbacks are well covered, and special-teams captain Matthew Slater donning Nate Ebner’s No. 43 was also a feel-good story.

Here’s another thing that was hard to miss: 12,393 fans in attendance.

That was the announced crowd by the Patriots as spectators packed the bleachers by the opening of practice at 9:15 a.m. as well as the hillside in the end zone of one practice field.