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When it comes to voluntary player practices at this time of the year, it’s not unusual for NFL teams to be missing a few notable names.
On Wednesday, the New England Patriots were without some of their own, with Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel speaking with reporters as this week marks the beginning of voluntary Organized Team Activities (OTAs).
Vrabel confirmed the absence of several key players, including Carlton Davis, Kayshon Boutte, Mack Hollins, Christian Gonzalez, Gabe Jacas, Kyle Dixon, and Harold Landry. Vrabel reiterated the voluntary nature of the spring sessions, emphasizing strong communication with all players and expressing confidence in their eventual readiness.
“I think that that’s always an important question, and I know you guys probably brought your binoculars,” said Vrabel when asked if everyone was present on Wednesday. “I’ll try to save you the binoculars, and I’ll give you a heads-up on who won’t be here today. But the spring, you guys know, is voluntary. There’s a small mini camp that is mandatory. And again, I’m familiar with that, just my time as a player and what that is. We would love to have everybody here, but that’s not the reality. That’s not the reality in the NFL.”
“So there won’t be 100% participation or attendance at practice. So Carlton [Davis], and let me just say this, like the guys that aren’t here, we communicate, or our guys that aren’t at practice, everybody’s got a different practice plan. We’ve talked about that. But the communication has been great. For whatever reason that guys aren’t at practice. But Carlton, [Kayshon] Boutte, [Mack] Hollins, Gonzo [Christian Gonzalez], Gabe [Jacas], and then I would say you may not … [Harold] Landry won’t be at practice, Kyle Dixon, that’s pretty much the guys that won’t be at practice.”
One name that clearly stood out was Christian Gonzalez, who had his fifth-year option picked up but is also reportedly seeking a long-term extension.
ESPN’s Mike Reiss asked Vrabel if that dynamic was playing a role in Gonzalez not being on hand.
“I don’t know what that— again, those are personal choices for players,” said Vrabel. “I would say that I value the communication that I’ve had personally. I know that our defensive coaches that have had, conversations with Christian.”
“Again, I wish that they were all here so that we can coach them. But the ones that are here, that’s where our focus will be, and we’ll pour everything that we have into those players. But I know that his professionalism and being ready to go, or whatever personal choice that some guys have during the spring, I’m confident that they’ll all be ready.”
The second-year Patriots coach said on Wednesday that the plan for this week will be to try to get work in while working at different tempos. He also emphasized the fact that with so many new players, what reporters see this week will likely not be what they see when they hit the field again later this summer at training camp.
“The unique thing about the players is there’s 44 new players to our spring football, and the spring football, what you’ll see today is not necessarily what you guys will see at training camp,” explained Vrabel. “We have certain rules, we have specific rules. They don’t have pads on, they just have a helmet.”
“So again, it’s a— we call it a passing camp. You’re going to see D-linemen that are going to maybe rush, and you’re going to be like, ‘Well, he stopped.’ Well, that’s because we’ve asked him to stop. We’ve asked him to get off, make a move, and then just kind of wait until the ball’s thrown, and hopefully they run out of the stack. But the offensive linemen have to take a set. They have to punch. They have to stay inside-out. But then also we’re not trying to take a guy over into the quarterback, obviously, ever, or into another lineman. The DBs can’t really— they have to avoid contact, where in maybe training camp that, those bang-bang plays, they can have contact. So we’re trying to teach one, the rookies, those spring NFL rules, but then also those new players that came from other teams, how we practice in the spring, and the efficiency in which we move from drill to drill. So, there’ll even be a jog through.”
“We put the runs in at the end of practice that we’re trying to install. And you’ll be like, ‘Why do they look like they’re going slow motion?’ That’s because it’s a jog through. I don’t want to run the football without pads on. I don’t think that’s very productive. And the other thing is I try to explain to them is that we’re going to need to have different tempos of practice throughout the season.We play on Thursdays, not going to be much practice from a Sunday to a Thursday. We have two Thursday games. And so, as the season wears on, we’re going to need different tempos, and this is part of that process.”
Head coach Mike Vrabel confirmed that Carlton Davis, Kayshon Boutte, Mack Hollins, Christian Gonzalez, Gabe Jacas, Kyle Dixon, and Harold Landry were among the players not present.
Vrabel acknowledged Gonzalez's absence as a personal choice, emphasizing good communication with the player and confidence in his eventual readiness, despite reports of him seeking a long-term extension.
Vrabel explained that OTAs are a "passing camp" with specific rules due to no pads, focusing on teaching rookies and new players the spring NFL rules and the team's practice efficiency.
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