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<\/p>\nSome Patriots and NFL-related news and notes for this Monday:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1) We\u2019re just days away from the start of New England Patriots training camp, which kicks off on Wednesday morning when the team takes the field for its first public session.<\/p>\n
The Patriots announced a handful of players over the weekend who will start the season on PUP and NFI ahead of training camp, and there were a few notable names that appeared.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s how it breaks down:<\/p>\n
PUP<\/strong><\/p>\n NFI<\/strong><\/p>\n Each of the players who are on PUP are coming off of offseason procedures, with the club likely taking it slow before they come off and start practicing.\u00a0 Each of those names have a high probability of making the roster, barring a bad training camp.<\/p>\n Tavai has been a name discussed as potentially being in a spot where it\u2019s unclear of how he fits into Mike Vrabel\u2019s defense, and he\u2019s also in a crowded linebacker room.\u00a0 As a result, one would have to believe he\u2019ll need to get healthy sooner than later to take part in that competition.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the fact that Stefon Diggs\u2019 name didn\u2019t appear there is a positive sign.\u00a0 Diggs did participate during portions of the team\u2019s minicamp practices last month, and a recent workout video he was shown in where he spent time with Drake Maye and other fellow offensive players had him looking like he was close to 100%, at least based on what limited footage we saw him in.<\/p>\n As for the players on the NFI, that list means they haven\u2019t been cleared to practice and it\u2019s unknown \u2013 especially with Davis III \u2013 what their respective issues might be.<\/p>\n As Mike Reiss of ESPN pointed out, the opportunity is there for all of those players to come off at anytime.\u00a0 But for now, they\u2019ll be among the list of players to keep an eye on in the coming days.<\/p>\n 2) Wide receiver is likely going to be a position that gets a lot of attention, especially given all the concerns on offense coming off a season where New England was near the bottom of the league in most categories, having finished with the third-worst point total in 2024<\/strong>.<\/p>\n We had NBC Sports Boston\u2019s Phil Perry on our most recent \u201cPatriots No Huddle\u201d podcast, with Perry talking about who might be a surprise out of the 12 players to make the roster.<\/p>\n \u201cI would just say because there are some locks at that position\u2026 Now, you might have some flexibility in that receiver room to start the year in terms of being able to keep an extra guy if [Stefon] Diggs isn\u2019t ready,\u201d said Perry last week.\u00a0 \u201cThat, to me, is still an if. He\u2019s looked good in camp. He hasn\u2019t looked great in camp, in my opinion. I think there are times where I\u2019ve watched him \u2013 I know there are times where I\u2019ve watched him, and he looks a little reluctant to cut. That was just my observation. It\u2019s not surprising at all. The guy was seven months removed from a torn ACL. We\u2019ll see. On the other hand, he\u2019s looked much better than guys that have been seven months off a torn ACL.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not the deepest roster across the board at other positions. And so if you feel like you want to keep a sixth wideout because you like the potential, and maybe he\u2019s a healthy scratch. Maybe it\u2019s a Malcolm Butler kind of situation.\u00a0 You\u2019re just going to keep him, you like him, but he\u2019s not going to play all year. That\u2019s what happened in 2014 with Butler, essentially. Maybe he shows you enough that he\u2019s worthy of that kind of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI would say this, knowing that padded football is a far different animal than non-padded football.\u00a0 There are not a lot of guys that we\u2019ve watched in the spring that, I would say, decelerate the way that Chism decelerates. He is very quick to stop, and that can help create separation. And we saw it. There were not \u2026 I\u2019ll compare them to the other rookie, and their games are very different. But Chism, to me, looked more useful in that short to intermediate area because of his route running than [Kyle] Williams right now. And he just saw more targets. And he was not, I would say, as frequently with the top group as Williams was, which makes sense.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, he\u2019s a third-round pick versus an undrafted guy. But that\u2019s a name people should be keeping an eye on because we\u2019ve seen crazier things happen with undrafted rookies, especially with McDaniels, especially when it comes to using that slot position. Guys that feel like they should be roster fodder, end up being anything but. I don\u2019t know if he can block. He\u2019s certainly not a big guy. I doubt he can block, quite frankly. So he\u2019s not Jacobi Myers. That was one of the reasons why Myers was able to play as much as he did for McDaniels. But that\u2019s a name to keep an eye on.\u201d<\/p>\n Perry actually ended up talking about another position that will potentially be worth watching, which is based on a wrinkle he feels McDaniels might be incorporating this season.<\/p>\n \u201cAnother one because they\u2019re going to use a fullback, in my opinion, to be Brock Lampe,\u201d said Perry. \u201cI mean, and I get it because he\u2019s going to bring a skill to the table that not a lot of other people have. And so we\u2019ll see, is there a tight end that maybe they could use? Could they use C. J. Dippre, another undrafted rookie? I\u2019m trying to go under the radar for you, Mike [D\u2019Abate], because like you said, people already know a lot of these names. But these undrafted guys, those three that I just mentioned, I think have a real shot at making the team. And maybe Dippre takes Lampe\u2019s spot if he shows he can line up in the backfield and really lay into people. But that\u2019s a different animal. You got to be wired a certain way and Lampe, to me, probably is the best fit there because he\u2019s already shown, at the college level, at least, a willingness to take on that kind of role, whereas Dippre was more of a traditional tight-end.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThose would just be a handful of names because I think the depth of tight-end, even though they have [Austin] Hooper and they have [Hunter] Henry, it\u2019s not amazing depth. And so Dippre, because of his size and his pedigree coming from Alabama, even things like just watching him work with Mike Vrabel closely in some of these special teams\u2019 drills.\u00a0 During OTAs, it felt like he was getting a little some special time with the head coach. Those are the kinds of things that I\u2019ll be paying attention to in camp to see if any of these guys can crack the roster.\u201d<\/p>\n 3) Another question that came up had to do with how McDaniels will use Maye in the offense, and whether or not he might be conservative when it comes to what he allows the second-year quarterback to do.<\/p>\n Perry feels McDaniels likely won\u2019t hold back, and that Maye will definitely see more in terms of his overall approach offensively compared to last season.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I think he has to,\u201d said Perry on Maye\u2019s increased involvement. \u201cThat\u2019s just who Drake Maye is. And I think Drake may will end up being \u2026 talking about offensive weapons, I\u2019m thinking for the most part, pass catchers, ball carriers, but Drake may is going to be his best weapon offensively this year. So you want the ball in that guy\u2019s hands, and you want him to do what he does well, which is throw the ball down the field. You want him to be able to use his legs. So you want to encourage him to run, and not only in scramble situations, but allow him to run in designed quarterback run situations, which the Patriots last year refused to do. And they were very open about how they did not want to call running plays for him because they wanted to try to keep him healthy. Then that changed toward the end of the year because they couldn\u2019t score points. They just couldn\u2019t square the logic where, \u2018Yeah, we\u2019re trying to do everything we can to win these games, but we\u2019re also going to just tell him not to run, even though he\u2019s already probably as a rookie, like our best offensive player.’\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMcDaniels will do those things. I think you\u2019ll see an offense that is a little bit of a m\u00e9lange, guys, of 2020 with Cam Newton and a lot of designed quarterback runs. It won\u2019t be that much, but you\u2019ll see some of that stuff. 2018, late 2018 with the fullback on the field because we\u2019ve been seeing that already. I could tell you from being at OTAs, no pads, but we\u2019re already seeing they\u2019re using alignments and formations where they\u2019ve got two backs in the backfield there looking like Sony Michel and James Devlin.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think there\u2019ll be some aggressiveness, but I think Derek [Havens], that down the field stuff, on the one hand, it\u2019s what Drake Maye does well. On the other, unfortunately for him, they don\u2019t have guys that are going to do that all that often, in my opinion. We\u2019ll see. Maybe Kayshon Boutte turns into that. I don\u2019t see Diggs doing that, even if he\u2019s healthy at this stage of his career. It\u2019s not really Demario Douglas\u2019s game. It\u2019s not really Kendrick Bourne\u2019s game. It could be Kyle Williams\u2019 game, and I like him, and we\u2019ll see how much he\u2019s able to perform. But again, that\u2019s sort of TBD.\u00a0 He\u2019s a young player in an offense with a language that has traditionally been difficult for young players to pick up. So, they\u2019ve got some work to do in terms of squeezing the most out of Drake Maye because of what I view as a sort of deficient personnel group around him.\u201d<\/p>\n 4) TreVeyon Henderson getting his deal done late Friday night was definitely good news, which now has the team set to begin training camp having all of the 2025 Patriots draft picks under contract.<\/p>\n One other interesting note is the fact that had Henderson not signed, it doesn\u2019t sound like the threat of holding out was something the rookie was planning on.<\/p>\n Mike Reiss of ESPN reported on Sunday that sitting out was \u201cnever a serious consideration,\u201d citing sources familiar with the negotiation.\u00a0 That\u2019s good news for the Patriots, as Henderson\u2019s name has been mentioned quite a bit this offseason as someone they\u2019re expecting to be a significant part of the offense in 2025.<\/p>\n The rookie impressed during the spring, with his speed and explosiveness being two things that stood out during the team\u2019s practices last month.<\/p>\n The hope now is that Henderson can build some momentum among a running back group that does have some questions.\u00a0 While Henderson is likely a roster lock, there are still questions among the rest of those players, especially if what Perry said comes to fruition when it comes to how McDaniels might be planning to operate at that position this season.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, we\u2019ll hear from Vrabel for the first time since his final press conference of minicamp on Tuesday, with the time for that press conference still to be determined. \u2026 The Patriots added defensive tackle David Olajiga<\/strong> over the weekend.\u00a0 The former undrafted free agent is part of the International Pathway Program, giving the Patriots a roster exemption as they add another player to compete at that position.\u00a0 Olajigo essentially steps back into the defensive tackle mix after the Patriots previously released DT Wilfried Pene back on June 26th, who was also part of that same International program. \u2026 Speaking of other guys at that position, Mike Reiss caught up with Florida State football general manager Darrick Yray, asking about rookie DT Joshua Farmer<\/strong>.\u00a0 Yray believes Farmer\u2019s work ethic and his play against the run are among several attributes are things that stood out during his time in college.\u00a0 \u201cFirst of all, the effort stands out,\u201d Yray told Reiss.\u00a0 \u201cYou watch him on tape, the ability to two-gap, chase the ball down. He\u2019s going to be physical. He plays with great leverage, and has the ability to have a quick first step and be able to penetrate. But he also has the ability to hold up against the run.\u201d \u2026 Down in New York, the Jets recently signed two key players on both sides of the ball, having locked up Garrett Wilson<\/strong> and Sauce Gardner<\/strong> to long-term deals.\u00a0 Former Patriots center and Jets analyst Damien Woody noted that they\u2019re establishing a new culture there, and keeping their young talent in-house is a key step.\u00a0 \u201cThe Jets are going to go into this thing where two of their top players are under contract, everybody\u2019s feeling good and happy and paid, and now you get to focus on what\u2019s really important, the game of football,\u201d Woody said via the Boston Globe. \u201cThat\u2019s what smart franchises do.\u201d\u00a0 \u2026 The Jets still don\u2019t have a high-end signal caller, but they do have both\u00a0Justin Fields <\/strong>and Tyrod Taylor<\/strong> there, who if nothing else should help avoid the distractions created by Aaron Rodgers<\/strong> last season.\u00a0 Still, they\u2019ll\u00a0likely have a long year ahead of them, but it does feel like things are potentially headed in a better direction with Aaron Glenn<\/strong> at the helm.\u00a0 Hopefully, 2025 will be a season where New England holds the advantage as the Patriots try to climb back into the race after two-straight 4-13 seasons.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We’re just days away from the start of New England Patriots training camp, which kicks off on Wednesday morning when the team takes the field for its first public session.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-england-patriots"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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<\/p>\n![\"Patriots](\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2025\/06\/10\/21\/Patriots_Football_82879.jpg?width=1200&auto=webp&crop=3%3A2\")
<\/p>\nOdds and Ends<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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