Subscribe
Follow Us
The New England Patriots' training camp for the 2025 NFL season might only be a week old, but it's not too early to do some overreactions. After Tuesday, the Patriots have only put on the pads twice so far, so you can't take away too much from these practices. But there are a few Patriots players who haven't helped their stock in the first week. So, let's take a look at three Patriots players who've struggled early on in training camp.
OT Morgan Moses
Moses seems to have filled the Patriots' need for a veteran presence. Players like Will Campbell have praised the 34-year-old Moses for his leadership and communication in the offseason and into training camp.
Now that the practices everyone is paying attention to have started, though, it seems like that's all he's provided so far. He had a rough first day of camp, allowing multiple sacks and being replaced on multiple occasions. It wasn't clear if the decision to remove Moses from the right tackle on the starting unit was due to performance or if it was planned load management.
But as camp has continued, it's been apparent that Day 1 wasn't an anomaly for Moses through the first week of camp. He's had some struggles in multiple practices since. He also only participated in 1-on-1 drills on Tuesday's practice, sitting out the team drills. It's unclear if that decision was due to injury, performance, or rest. However, the fact that it's unclear doesn't seem to be great, as the Patriots are seeking to stabilize both offensive tackle spots.
G Cole Strange
The 2022 first-round pick seemed to enter camp as the de facto starting left guard. A week later, it isn't unrealistic to think that Strange might be battling for a roster spot when training camp and the preseason end.
Strange has struggled in multiple practices through the first week of camp, getting beaten in one-on-one drills on Tuesday after having a rough practice on Saturday. In Saturday's practice, Keion White beat Strange for a sack twice before getting pulled from the starting unit in team drills.
With Strange struggling, third-round rookie Jared Wilson has shown some promise early in camp and has gotten run with the starting unit at left guard. Some depth chart projections have Wilson starting over Strange at the position. At the same time, second-year offensive lineman Caedan Wallace also got reps after the Patriots took him in the third round last year.
It's clear that the Patriots are willing to try other players at left guard. If so, Strange's continued struggles won't help his long-term outlook in New England.
WR Ja'Lynn Polk
To be fair to Polk, he wasn't around for the first four training camp practices. When he returned for Monday's practice, Polk made a play that wowed those in attendance, making an impressive touchdown reception on a pass from Drake Maye.
However, Polk has seemed to have turned into an afterthought already. While he was out of practice last week, Stefon Diggs, Kyle Williams, DeMario Douglas, and Kayshon Boutte did enough to make us wonder if Polk has a future with the team. Just a year ago, he was New England's second-round pick in the draft, but he finished the year with fewer than 100 receiving yards and made some head-scratching quotes.
At this rate, Polk will have to stand out in most training camp practices to break through in a Patriots wide receivers room with plenty of OK depth.
