Flowers OK with late bloom
Provides big impact in preseason debut
FOXBORO — Defensive end Trey Flowers finally made his debut Friday against the Lions, and it was a helpful step toward his regular-season prep work.
Flowers had two tackles and a pressure against the Lions starters. For a guy who has only played one full NFL season, it’s important to compile as many game reps as possible.
“It felt good,” Flowers said. “It always feels good to play, get back into the swing of things and get a game under my belt.”
Most of the Patriots veterans got the night off in the preseason opener against the Jaguars, but Flowers remained on the sideline in full uniform when the starters took the field the following week against the Texans.
Flowers said it wasn’t injury related.
“Just held me out,” he said. “Everything is good.”
Flowers is expected to be the Patriots’ best passrushing defensive lineman this season. His rookie year was derailed by shoulder surgery, but he broke out in 2016 with seven sacks in the final nine regular-season games. He added 2.5 takedowns of quarterback Matt Ryan in Super Bowl LI.
Flowers had a sterling training camp and was routinely one of the last players off the field for every practice, as he stayed late to work on certain techniques, usually leading a group of younger teammates.
So if he does indeed add to that sack total, it’s because Flowers worked extra for it.
“I’m working hard,” Flowers said. “I have higher expectations (for myself) than anybody else. What I expect of myself is definitely high, and I’m working toward it.”
Blind (side) faith
Left tackle Nate Solder practiced yesterday in a limited capacity, as he is still dealing with the undisclosed injury that has lingered since the start of training camp. He wasn’t present during the media window at the start of practice, but he walked into the locker room following practice with his uniform and pads.
Solder’s injury isn’t expected to derail too much more time, according to a source. The Patriots are being overly cautious with Solder, and they’ve kept him out of preseason action to prevent the issue from turning into a long-term problem.
It’s too early to make a definitive call on Solder’s status for the regularseason opener next week against the Chiefs, but the source said it’s certainly possible for him to play.
The Patriots did get two key contributors back into the mix yesterday, as special teams captain Matthew Slater and running back Rex Burkhead returned to practice. Slater injured his hamstring early in training camp and hadn’t been spotted at practice since that point, while Burkhead missed the past week of action.
There were still nine players out of the first workout of the week: wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell (knee), safety Nate Ebner (undisclosed injury), linebackers Shea McClellin and Harvey Langi (undisclosed injuries), tackle Tony Garcia (undisclosed injury), offensive lineman Andrew Jelks (NFI), defensive lineman Keionta Davis (hasn’t debuted at practice), wide receiver Julian Edelman (torn ACL) and defensive end Derek Rivers (torn ACL).
Defensive end Geneo Grissom, who has missed the last two preseason games due to an undisclosed injury, departed early for the conditioning field.
Roster tweaks
The Patriots continued to juggle the roster, as they signed three undrafted rookies before practice: Michael Bart, Christian Kuntz and Nick Usher. All three played on the defensive edge in college and worked with the linebackers yesterday during positional drills.
Also, tight end Matt Lengel and defensive end Caleb Kidder were placed on injured reserve after clearing waivers. They were waived/injured Sunday.