Harmon on knee scare: 'It could have been a lot worse'

FOXBOROUGH — Duron Hamon was worried. The safety went down in a heap last week defending a pass play in the end zone without being touched. It was his right knee, and he knew exactly what that meant. After all, training camp wasn’t two weeks old, and he had already seen more than his fair share of non contact horror stories.

“I was scared,” he told BostonSportsJournal.com following practice on Monday. “But the trainers came over and told me the knee felt fine. Once they told me that, the doubts and everything kind of went out of my mind. I was just happy that everything worked out the way it did. It could have been a lot worse. Some people throughout the league have been tearing their ACLs early in camp. It’s unfortunate. I’m glad that I didn’t have to deal with that.”

Harmon took a few days off, and was back out on the field Monday in the first joint practice of the summer against the Jaguars. Given the fact that the season is still in its infant stages, discretion made perfect sense.

“Just being able to get back out here, with the guys and doing it in a competitive setting like this — joint practices — its just exciting,” he said. “I was out for a few days, just trying to make sure everything was working in a proper way. Not trying to force it. We all know it’s a long season, so it’s no point in trying to push through something when you have time. That’s all that was.”

Harmon is now part of a veteran secondary that includes two other safeties in Devin McCourty and Patrick Chung who have extensive experience in the system. Their background has helped Harmon grow as a defender. The trio, so far in camp, seem to have taken another step in their development.

Entering this season, McCourty and Chung were the starting safeties, and Harmon would enter the game as a third, deep safety. That allowed Chung to play closer to the line, and McCourty to roam the middle of the field as the "robber." So far in camp, it looks like the three have become interchangeable. You could see any of them at the three spots ("down" safety, robber and free) from play to play.

“The good thing about playing in this secondary and with those two safeties is that they’re veterans. Just me kind of being the younger one, I’m able to learn,” Harmon said. “I was more typically the free safety, but studying under Dev and Chung, they’ve allowed me to just try and expand my role a bit more. Sometimes they tell me to go down or sometimes they tell me to ‘rob.’ Just try and give me more freedom and capability when it comes to making plays.”

Call of duty: Joe Cardona made a quick change after Monday’s practice, ditching the helmet and shoulder pads for a full Navy uniform. He performed a reenlistment ceremony for two fellow Navy members on the field after practice.

“I performed a re-enlistment ceremony for one of the sailors that I work with down in Newport,” he explained after practice. “They’re signing up for a  few more years of service and when they asked me to perform the re-enlistment, I jumped at the opportunity. When I mentioned it to the organization, it was something they jumped on onboard and said we’re going to make this a special opportunity for the member. I think it made it a special opportunity for everyone who was out here today.”

Cardona is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and currently serves in the Naval Reserves. The team has granted him leave as needed, like last month when he missed the start of training camp. Those gestures mean a lot to Cardona, who performed the ceremony with players from both New England and Jacksonville on the field.

“To have the backing of the organization and the players coming on their own as well as the players for Jacksonville and be a part of it, it  really meant a lot to me,” he said. “I know how much it meant [to the reenlists]. They are the ones that are signing up for more service, who really deserve that kind of recognition on a day like this, when they are raising their right hands and promising to support and defend the constitution.”

Gronk has the drops: Rob Gronkowski appeared to struggle at times during Monday’s practice with multiple drops against the Jacksonville defense. Asked after practice about the drops, he was contrite.

“It’s always frustrating when you drop the ball,” he said. “But you’ve got to go back out there and you’ve got to put that play in the back of your head and keep on going.”

For what it’s worth, don’t look for Gronkowski on Thursday night against the Jags. He hasn’t played in a preseason game since 2012, and it would be a shock to see him out there for the opener.