New England guard Cole Strange is dealing with a knee injury, and his availability for Sunday’s season opener against Philadelphia is in question. Winslow Townson/AP Images for Panini
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Patriots had perfect practice attendance on Wednesday afternoon, but five projected starters were listed as limited participants on the first injury report of the season.
Three key pieces of the offensive line – Cole Strange (knee), Mike Onwenu (ankle) and Trent Brown (illness) – weren’t full participants. During the media window at practice, Strange didn’t have close to a full workload, while Onwenu stopped during an early drill to talk to Coach Bill Belichick and a team doctor. Offensive line readiness is a major storyline to monitor, with a fierce Eagles pass rush coming to town this weekend.
“Defensively, their front is a very dominant front,” Belichick said on Wednesday morning. “Best pass rushing front in the league by, I’d say, quite a bit with good depth. So, they can roll those guys out of there pretty comfortably and bring in other guys that are just as explosive, dangerous. They’ve got a great combination of power and speed in the pass rush front, and then some good coverage players.”
Receiver DeVante Parker was also very limited because of a knee injury that’s been hindering him for over a week now – he wasn’t wearing gloves at practice – while Jack Jones is dealing with an illness.
JACK JONES, with firearms charges dropped against him, is expected to be available Sunday according to Belichick. Beyond that, who knows.
Belichick said he was “not going to get into that” when asked if the NFL has told him whether or not there will be upcoming punishment for Jones.
“Talk to the league,” Belichick said. “See what they have to say. Anything from them would come from them, not from me.”
Jones was arrested in June when Massachusetts State Police officers said they found two pistols in his carry-on bag as he was going through security. Jones agreed to one year of probation and 48 hours of community service to youth and community organizations, presenting the dangers of firearms, firearm safety and the proper handling of firearms, according to the Suffolk County DA’s office.
Even though chargers were dropped, Jones could still receive punishment from the NFL.
Jones finished fifth among Patriots defenders in preseason snaps this summer. He played nearly 40 more snaps than any other player who is expected to be a regular defender in the regular season.
“He’s done a good job,” Belichick said. “He’s been on the field. Played in all of the games, practiced, so, yeah, he’s been out there.”
MALIK CUNNINGHAM has been cast as Jalen Hurts in the Patriots scout team, but while New England’s practice squad quarterback/receiver does possess some similar athletic attributes to the Eagles All-Pro QB, Belichick dismissed the idea that having Cunningham can truly prepare the Patriots for what they’ll see Sunday in the season opener at Gillette Stadium.
“Malik has some good skills, but it would be a stretch to compare Malik Cunningham to Jalen Hurts now. You’re talking about a guy who was second in the MVP voting last year or whatever he was,” Belichick said. Athletically there are some similarities, but you’re talking about arguably the best player in the league or one of the top two or three best players in the league. Nobody has anybody who can be him, and if they do, that guy’s probably not playing on scout team for that team anyway.”
In 15 regular-season games last year, Hurts completed 306 of 460 passes for 3,701 yards and 22 touchdowns. He rushed 165 times for 760 yards and 13 more touchdowns before leading Philadelphia to the NFC championship.
“We go through that every week. Every team has a few good players, some great players ,and it’s hard to replicate those players. If you have one, that guy is probably not on the scout team anyway. You do the best you can,” Belichick said. “We’ll have somebody try to simulate the best we can what Hurts does, but we don’t have anyone like Hurts, and probably neither does anyone else.”
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