Going over our notes from the three-day Patriots minicamp that was shortened to two with a team-building outing to paintball:
THREE UP
S Marte Mapu: I think it's safe to say that as far as Patriots rookies go, this is the most any first-year player has been handed this early as far as positions and assignments. He started at linebacker, spent most of his time at safety but also took some reps at edge. Kyle Dugger and Jamie Collins did not do this much this soon, same with Josh Uche. Joejuan Willams and Chase Winovich? Please. The only recent player that comes to mind is Myles Bryant as a UDFA. Dont'a Hightower could be argued - he started on the edge and then moved. Devin McCourty was just a zone cornerback. Bill Belichick dapped him up after one practice and then walked with him off the field. Mapu has made calls, checks, gotten teammates lined up. To listen to him, he's obviously smart and there's an underlying badass quotient that reminds you of Hightower. I'm buying all the Mapu stock you're selling.
CB Jack Jones: Was inconsistent as a rookie and then wound up being suspended by the team. He's been solid this spring and is back to being around the ball at all times. Belichick gave a little attaboy to finish off the spring by elevating him over Christian Gonzalez to CB1 and he responded with a pick and a very strong practice.
WR DeVante Parker: If we're being honest, he was going to be on the other list until the first day because he looked largely like crap - slow off the line, could question his compete and he made very few plays. But, suddenly, in the practice after it was announced DeAndre Hopkins was scheduled to visit, Parker roared to life and dominated the final practice with a touchdown and several nice catches. Effort was great too. Funny how that happened with that timing.
Parker was asked after practice about Hopkins possibly coming to the Patriots.
“I’m just focused on us right now,” he said. “Great player, but I’m just focused on us.”
Could the receivers use some help?
“Just focused on us, man. Next question,” he said.
Parker would make sense as the odd-man out if Hopkins lands here and his $6 million would immediately come off the books.
THREE DOWN
LT Trent Brown: Didn't attend many of the offseason workouts, and then missed the first minicamp practice due to a hailstorm that hit Texas late on Sunday — that's not a valid excuse. He finally shows up, looks way out of shape, and does about one rep and is shutdown (or, more likely, shuts it down) for the rest of the day. That was the totality of Brown's Patriots offseason. This is not going in a good direction. You have to hope he spends the next six weeks getting into shape, or you're looking at the team basically bringing him along slowly the entire training camp. Brown, when in shape and focused, is a really good NFL left or right tackle. Right now, the Patriots have zero good NFL tackles. Calvin Anderson, Reilly Reiff and Conor McDermott are backups at best. Sidy Sow is a rookie that looks like will need some time. It's not good.
WRs Juju Smith-Schuster/Tyquan Thornton: Smith-Schuster is still dealing with a knee injury, apparently, from five months ago. Remember, he was pictured by Patriots.com practicing very early in voluntary practices. Now he's nowhere (at least when the media has been out there)? That's not good and you worry about a chronic injury. Thornton missed time as a rookie, and he's missing more time. It is never, ever good when a young receiver in this offense misses time. It's not a death sentence, but it's not a good sign.
Bill Belichick: While he stocks his defense and special teams with so many players they don't know what to do with, the Patriots spent at least part of OTAs without enough at offensive tackle and receiver as the offense looks understaffed. There were the OTAs that were docked, and Belichick avoided taking questions on it. He still went through with the team-building activity. And it's obvious that he and Mac Jones are avoiding each other which isn't horrible, but it's just stupid and wasted energy. Belichick is supposed to be the adult in the room, so he needs to clean this mess up. It's childish.