Today marked the end of the Patriots ‘OTA’-like return to camp practices, sessions which allowed veterans and rookies to settle into a new regime as mandated by the league. The first taste of football we’ve had since the end of last season has been great, but really, we’re all excited about the session tomorrow.
Why? Because tomorrow, the Patriots will have their first fully padded practice of camp, and it will be the first time any media (other than the Patriots Unfiltered crew) will be allowed to attend. Make sure you keep an eye out for the return of ‘Tweets of Note’ on the blog tomorrow.
Camp Update
After analyzing today’s Patriots update from training, it was cool to hear an increased level of integration between the Offense and Defense.
@pfwpaul noted it was a high energy session including some 7v7 and 11v11 work across both sides of the ball. Newton, Stidham, and Hoyer all got reps during the session, as coaches worked with headsets for the first time during teamwork drills.
It was also exciting to hear that the unusual start to camp hasn’t taken any of the competitive spirit away from these guys, especially as each side of the ball weren’t afraid to celebrate a good play on the ball. Positive signs for N’Keal Harry as he used his size to outmuscle J.C. Jackson for a TD during a red zone drill, something which we weren’t able to see much of last season.
Paul noted that Rex Burkhead looked strong over the four days of practice last week, showing his effectiveness in both running and catching the ball during drills.
K Justin Rohrwasser kicked plenty of balls across the sessions, his strong leg and kicking velocity was something of note. With no other competition currently at the position, hope will be that the rookie can show some consistency through camp.
Roster News
The team waived/injured WR Quincy Adeboyejo yesterday on the team’s day off, as advised by Adeboyejo himself.
In my pre-camp roster projection, I had Adeboyejo down as part of the positional cuts at the end of August, but his journey with the group didn’t last that long. If Adeboyejo goes unclaimed on waivers, he will revert to the team’s reserve/injured list, Miguel from @patscap provided a breakdown of what the salary cap hit will look like, depending on a team claiming him or not.
Details of Lamar Miller’s deal came out on Friday with the RB signing a one-year, $1.05 million base salary ($200K guaranteed) with $1.5 million in achievable incentives. He’s currently on the PUP/active list alongside fellow RB Sony Michel. LB Brandon King is on the reserve/PUP list meaning he has to miss the first six games of the season.
Salary Cap Check-In
Since a few open roster spots remain available, I thought it would be a good time for a quick check-in on the team’s latest salary cap info.
Per the information provided by @patscap, the current cap space stands at $32,346,135. Now, in a normal pre-season training camp, I’d expect the team to be using that to bolster positions of need right away, but given the current circumstances regarding COVID-19, a more delicate approach to spending the cap would be the more sensible option.
It’s hard to believe that just after the draft, the team had to create space just so they could sign their newly drafted rookies. Now, following the COVID opt-outs, the team has a healthy reserve to dip into.
Nice article, Tom. Glad to see the old Pats Propaganda site up and going again. Been listening to your buddy Mike a lot lately since they’re the only ones who can be out at practice now. Heard him and Eric talking about what a difference a year makes for both Harry and Olszewski whose beginnings couldn’t have been more different. I imagine whichever WRs don’t make the roster when Olszewski makes the cut will be hotly debated in the weeks to come. Despite the tremendous lack of experience, terrible odds, another punt returner being drafted, I have a sneaking suspicion that he makes the roster.
You get a feeling there is something there coaching staff likes in him even if they still trot out the old cliches in “he’s getting better every week, just like all our other guys”. Perhaps like last year, his path to the roster is through special teams. The team is already down Brandon King and Brandon Bolden and if I recall, Olszewski played 40% of the snaps in the kicking game not counting returning punts. I believe that’s where he bloodied his nose on a tackle. I know projecting him to make the rosters seems like an impossible decision but Belichick lives to befuddle us and thrives off making head-scratching moves (like trading away Demaryius Thomas and Keion Crossen while keeping… Olszewski).
Hi Matt, thanks for the note! I think you’re right about Olszewski, he got his chance last year to help out on return duty before getting inured. He looks a bit bulkier this year and in better shape, I had him down as a cut in pre-camp projections, but if can show improvements within the receiving group, I can imagine him making the team.
With Kyle Dugger and J.J. Taylor being involved in return duty so far, he will need to be solid through camp, although Bill might hesitant to cut Gunner or place him on the practice squad, through fear of another team picking him up.