Some news and notes for this morning:<\/p>\n
So much for getting a little news out of Foxboro this week.<\/p>\n
According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, the Patriots have reportedly been penalized by the NFL<\/strong> <\/a>due to a violation of offseason rules, which has led to the league hitting them with the loss of two OTA practices.<\/p>\n The first canceled practice will reportedly be today’s session in Foxboro, which was highly anticipated due to the fact it was the first one open to the media.\u00a0 This latest news slams the door on fans getting any insight on this year’s group of players, while club also reportedly will lose a practice next week as well.<\/p>\n As far as what the specific rule violation was, that’s yet to be reported.\u00a0 However, in this phase of OTAs, teams are permitted a total of 10 sessions, with the understanding there is no live contact permitted.\u00a0 That rule is part of the league’s collective bargaining agreement, with the NFLPA actively monitoring that.<\/p>\n Still, with no representatives actively in the building, the next question is obviously how it was reported.\u00a0 The Boston Herald’s Andrew Callahan appeared on NBC Boston Thursday night and discussed it, and he believes it could very well have been reported by one of the club’s own players.<\/p>\n “You look at the past, last year the Cowboys, too physical in practice.\u00a0 Two days, Mike McCarthy, $100,000 fine,” said Callahan<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0 \u00a0“I don’t think we’ll ever find out if Bill Belichick got a similar fine.\u00a0 2021, the 49ers, Jaguars, same deal.\u00a0 Some sort of rule.\u00a0 I mean in 2021, it was also Urban Meyer running the Oklahoma drill in June, which is kind of like, what the hell are you doing?\u00a0 Low and behold, he gets fired seven months later.\u00a0 But I think this is either something that they knew about going in with the risk, or you have a new guy, a veteran you brought in, or someone who has just had enough of it as they’re trying to install a new offense, and said, ‘this is too much.'”<\/p>\n Callahan reported during the appearance that the second session they’re losing is Tuesday’s practice, which has also been canceled.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Michael Holley suggested it could have come due to players who spent too much time with coaches, which he felt could have possibly been the cause.<\/p>\n “I’m not going to guess a person, I’m going to guess a situation,” said Holley.\u00a0 “Because you’re not allowed to get into coaches, and the playbook, and playbook installation, playbook study, I’m guessing it’s something like that.\u00a0 You’ve got a new offensive coordinator, you want to get Mac Jones going, you want to get the quarterbacks on board, it may be something like that.”<\/p>\n In the meantime, it’s obviously a frustrating situation, especially for a team with so much at stake heading into this season.\u00a0 Given the restrictions, time is incredibly valuable, and as a result of this, they’re instead without two days of work that they’ll now need to somehow make up.<\/p>\n With the club posting some pictures from the team’s recent workouts<\/strong><\/a>, it looks like we at least know which numbers some of the new players will initially be wearing ahead of training camp.<\/p>\n First-round pick Christian Gonzalez was donning the number 50, which was the same number Mac Jones wore temporarily during his rookie season, while JuJu Smith-Schuster wore the #7, and Mike Gesicki wore #88.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, with the recent news of the club’s violations, it will likely be a bit before we get any further look at players.\u00a0 Patriots.com’s Evan Lazar reported Wednesday night that the next potential practice that will be open to the media is tentatively scheduled for next Wednesday<\/strong><\/a>, May 31.<\/p>\n Now that the Patriots are set to play a game in Frankfurt Germany, it didn’t take long for the marketing to begin.<\/p>\n According to one fan, one of the streetcars is already featuring the club’s colors, including an image of Matthew Judon and Mac Jones, who were the two players appearing on the side as it passed by.<\/p>\n Matt Judon & Mac Jones on a streetcar in Frankfurt, all in Patriots colors. The New England Patriots<\/strong><\/a> are already promoting their NFL Germany "home game" against the Indianapolis Colts on November 12, 2023 (Week 10). Love it!pic.twitter.com\/Xvy5pgBNOw<\/a><\/p>\n — Ren\u00e9 Bugner (@RNBWCV) May 25, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\nNew Player Numbers Revealed<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Patriots Images Already Appearing in Frankfurt<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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