The New England Patriots’ third-round draft pick likely won’t be on the field when organized team activities begin next month.
Linebacker/safety Marte Mapu, selected 76th overall Friday night, suffered a torn pectoral muscle in February while training for the draft. That injury prevented him from working out at his pro day or in private workouts with teams, and it sounds like it’ll sideline him for a few more months as he begins his NFL career.
That layoff should end long before Week 1, however. The Sacramento State product said in his introductory news conference that he expects to be “ready by training camp at the latest.”
The Patriots faced a similar situation with last year’s third-round selection, Marcus Jones, who was coming off double offseason shoulder surgery. Jones wasn’t full-go until training camp but went on to carve out substantial roles on defense and offense and earned first-team All-Pro honors as a return man.
Mapu was the third defensive player the Patriots drafted this week — after Oregon cornerback Christian Gonzalez in the first round and Georgia Tech defensive end Keion White in the second — and, once healthy, will give New England another hard hitter with positional versatility.
The Patriots announced Marte as a linebacker at the draft, but he also played safety and even some cornerback in college. He also has a different body type than most New England ‘backers, checking in at an inch shorter and roughly the same weight as safety Kyle Dugger at 6-foot-3, 221 pounds. The Patriots have used Dugger, Adrian Phillips and Jabrill Peppers as safety/linebacker hybrids in recent years.
Mapu was the Defensive Player of the Year in the Big Sky Conference last season and impressed at the 2023 Senior Bowl, where his defensive coordinator was Patriots D-line coach DeMarcus Covington.
