Michel ‘limited’ in return to huddle
FOXBORO — Sony Michel is back on the practice field, but the gifted rookie isn’t quite ready to go full tilt.
“He’s progressing pretty well,” Patriots running backs coach Ivan Fears said yesterday. “He’s still under doctors’ care — they haven’t totally freed him up for us to do everything with him, so we’re doing everything we possibly can to keep him up to date. Anything we can do, walkthrough-wise, that’s not going to be a problem . . . . We’re keeping him up to date, but until he’s totally turned loose, he’s still limited right now.”
Michel suffered a knee injury on Aug. 1, causing him to miss 12 straight practices and three preseason games. He returned to practice on Monday, but his availability for Week 1 remains unknown.
According to Fears, Michel is staying involved in meetings and walkthroughs.
Asked if he’s concerned about Michel falling behind, Fears said, “We’ll see when he gets back. It’s kind of hard to say how much of a concern it’s going to be until we really see him when he gets back. So, of course, as a coach we’re always worried about everything. Until I get my hands on him, I’m concerned.”
Despite a few fumbles early in camp, Michel started strong. His athleticism, balance, and big-play ability was evident during the first week of camp.
If healthy, Michel should provide a home-run threat out of the backfield, an element the team was missing a year ago.
Efficient as Dion Lewis was in 2017, he didn’t break many long gains. The backfield of Lewis, Rex Burkhead, James White and Mike Gillislee combined for 391 rushing attempts, and only three carries went for longer than 25 yards.
The Pats hope Michel, the No. 31 overall pick out of Georgia, can generate big plays at a higher rate.
“I loved what he was doing,” Fears said. “I thought he was off to a great start. I was really happy with him, so I’m looking forward to seeing more from him. I really am.”
Brady in rhythm
When Tom Brady skipped voluntary workouts in the spring, he missed out on valuable practice time with new receivers such as Cordarrelle Patterson, Kenny Britt, Jordan Matthews and rookie Braxton Berrios.
Turns out, that doesn’t really matter anymore.
Britt and Matthews are gone. Berrios is a longshot to make the squad. And, according to offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, Brady’s leisurely spring hasn’t affected his rhythm and chemistry with the new receivers.
“No, not that I see,” McDaniels said. “There’s guys that miss time, whether it’s the spring, summer, or during the season for a number of reasons, injury, rehab, what have you. That’s just part of our year. Sometimes we have everybody, most of the times we don’t.”
Training camp, McDaniels said, is a “building phase.”
“This is a phase where we’re trying to grow together,” McDaniels said. “We try some new things here and there. The real football is when you get into the games. You’re trying to develop some chemistry and try some new things with your scheme, put some players in positions and he’s been great working with everybody.”
Can’t get foot in door
Perhaps this is the week for rookie punter Corey Bojorquez, who remains on the 90-man roster but hasn’t appeared in a preseason game.
Bojorquez flashed impressive leg strength during training camp practices. He’s been relegated to the sideline thus far, though, as incumbent Ryan Allen has punted 16 times in three exhibition games. Why no work for Bojo? Special teams coach Joe Judge wasn’t interested in discussing the matter.
“Like every player we have in camp, they’re all here to improve and compete for a job,” Judge said.
But how does a player compete for a job without playing in a game?
“All they can do is perform when we ask them to, whatever scenario that is, practice or game,” Judge said.
Judge declined to offer an assessment of Bojorquez’ physical skills, opting to keep the focus on the punter’s positive attitude and work ethic.
When it was mentioned that Bojorquez appears to have a strong leg, Judge said, “Yeah, I’d say anyone that’s in any camp in the NFL has a big leg. It’s relative to whoever else is out there. I’m very excited to work with this guy and his attitude every day.”
Watermelon whine
NFL teams must finalize their 53-man rosters by Saturday afternoon. This means over 1,000 players will be cut in the coming days. A few dozen will be claimed by other teams.
Asked if he had an idea of who those players are, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said, “Absolutely, yeah.”
He paused and said, “What do you think we’ve been doing?”
The comment elicited laughter from the media, and Belichick kept going.
“Yeah, we look at all 31 teams, yeah. What do you think we’re doing? We’re in camp. We don’t have watermelon rolls and badminton contests and all that,” Belichick said with a smirk. “Yeah, we’re working on football. We look at our team, we look at all 31 teams.”
Yesterday’s practice was open to the media for about 15 minutes, and there were no badminton contests during that period.
Injury report
For the second straight day, Michel and offensive tackle Marcus Cannon were on the practice field.
Before practice, offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia told reporters that Cannon has participated in individual drills, but not team drills.
Linebacker Harvey Langi, offensive lineman Luke Bowanko and tight end Ryan Izzo were absent.