@TaylorF_Fits
Offensive line needs to be a focal point this year, do you think they slot Trent back in at RT? My guess would be
-LT- Trent Brown
-LG- Cole Strange
-C- David Andrews
-RG- Mike Oweneu
-RT- Reilly Reiff
If I was predicting the starting five, that’s the combination I’d go with. But we still don’t know where Brown and Reiff will play. The former did not practice Wednesday, and the latter saw reps at both tackle spots. When Reiff was at right tackle — as he was to start practice — Calvin Anderson played on the left side. When he switched to left tackle, Conor McDermott slotted in on the right. Anderson and McDermott both stuck to their respective sides while Reiff rotated.
If the Patriots want to keep their top two bookends in the positions they played last season, they’ll have Brown at left tackle and Reiff at right tackle. But Brown performed better on the right side in 2021 than he did on the left in ’22, and left tackle is Reiff’s natural position, though the 34-year-old hasn’t played there regularly since 2020.
So, the plan here remains a mystery. But this tackle group does look substantially deeper than it was a year ago, even if it lacks top-end talent.
@patscap
Do you think the Week 1 roster will have on it a player not currently on the Patriots’ 90-man active roster? What’s the latest on Jack Jones’ grievance? Did placing Raekwon McMillan on IR change your 53-man roster projection? If so, how!
1. History suggests it will. In seven of the last nine seasons, the Patriots’ initial 53-man roster included at least one player who joined the team after June 1. Last year was one of the two exceptions, however, and most of those midsummer additions were depth players — guys like Tim Wright, David Harris, Barkevious Mingo, Jermaine Eluemunor and Shaun Wade. The lone star on that list: Cam Newton, who signed in July 2020. Hopkins, of course, would be another if the Patriots are able to land him.
2. Not sure how Jones’ grievance worked out from a financial/contractual standpoint, but he was a full participant in Wednesday’s practice, so his team-imposed suspension is over.
3. Yes. I had McMillan making the cut in my post-draft roster projection, and that won’t be possible after the linebacker landed on injured reserve last week. For now, I’ll swap him with Mack Wilson, who was one of my final cuts.
@Michael_412883
When is the next open to reporters practice?
Next Tuesday, followed by a three-day mandatory minicamp the following Monday through Wednesday (June 12-14). That gives us a total of five open spring practices before the team breaks for the summer.
Bill Belichick has a history of canceling the final June practice or two and giving players an early start on their vacations, so that schedule still is subject to change. The odds of that happening again this year likely are lower, however, since the Patriots already had two OTAs wiped out in their punishment for offseason meeting violations.
