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After a physically grueling training session, the New England Patriots will return to the training grounds behind Gillette Stadium on Monday. While it remains to be seen whether or not the team will stay in full towels or put on a lighter outfit, the session projects itself again as entertaining with the preseason opening just three days away.
That being said, here are three things we’ll take a close look at in today’s practice.
Tight end depth
With Hunter Henry among the players leaving Monday’s practice with an injury, and with sophomore Dalton Keene on the injured reserve at the end of the season, the Patriots’ tight depth is now in the spotlight. . While Henry is expected to be short on time due to his shoulder disease, is anyone else going to step in?
The main candidate to do so is Devin Asiasi. Returning to training on Sunday after missing the first nine sessions of the summer on the coronavirus reserve list, Asiasi has a golden opportunity ahead of him to gain momentum as he approaches second year.
Of course, the former third-round draft pick isn’t the only tight end competing for practice reps alongside TE1 Jonnu Smith. Matt LaCosse, Troy Fumagalli and David Wells are also under contract. LaCosse and Fumagalli have both had their moments so far this summer, so it will be interesting to see how the Patriots choose to use them and the other tight ends while Henry stays away.
The list of injuries
Henry wasn’t the only player added to the injured list on Sunday. Starting center David Andrews, long snapper Joe Cardona and offensive tackle Jerald Hawkins also left the session; their status remains uncertain for now, although there has been encouraging news about Andrews and a ‘wait and see’ report on Cardona.
Wide receiver Nelson Agholor, who was not fully spotted on Sunday, missed practice for undisclosed reasons. He was one of 13 players not to participate in the session.
In the meantime, four players have returned: the aforementioned Devin Asiasi from the Covid-19 roster, as well as defensive tackle Christian Barmore, offensive lineman Ted Karras and wide receiver Devin Ross suffered a few minor injuries. As can be seen there are a lot of fluctuations and it will be interesting to see if there are any further changes on Monday afternoon.
Kristian Wilkerson’s workload
In the absence of Nelson Agholor, Kristian Wilkerson was given a greater workload in competitive team drills on Sunday. The sophomore, who spent most of 2020 on the New England practice squad, responded in style: Wilkerson led the squad with 7 catches – 3 on passes thrown by Cam Newton, 4 by Mac Jones.
Can Wilkerson keep the momentum going on Monday? This will be one of the biggest questions of the session, especially if Agholor returns or N’Keal Harry sees increased action again during 7v7 and 11v11. If neither of those happen, however, Wilkerson should have another chance to show the coaching staff that he is on the 53-man roster as a potential point X rotation option.
As for things to watch out for yesterday, here are some quick notes:
Cam Newton’s precision: Besides Friday’s de facto walkthrough, Newton entered Sunday’s practice after consecutive inconsistent performances. However, he rebounded well: the starting starter went 13 for 16 with an interception during team drills, including a 6 for 6 stretch against the starters in an 11v11 job. Newton may have seen less. more clichés than Mac Jones, but he made the most of them.
Nelson Agholor: After his hot start, Nelson Agholor enjoyed a relatively quiet second week of training camp before being strangely absent on Sunday. Instead of maybe seeing it bounce back, we haven’t seen it at all. Instead, N’Keal Harry and especially Kristian Wilkerson stepped up to take on more active roles within the offensive.
The momentum of Quinn Nordin: Although he had to work with emergency long snapper Deatrich Wise Jr. at the end of practice, Nordin appeared to have succeeded most, if not all, of his field goal attempts on Sunday. With starting kicker Nick Folk still out, the undrafted rookie continued to look good and continue the momentum he built in Friday’s performance.
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