Gabe Jacas makes his presence felt on his first day of practice, and other observations at Patriots camp
FOXBOROUGH — Four notes and observations from Day 7 of Patriots training camp.
1. For the first time this summer, rookie edge rusher Gabe Jacas suited up for practice.
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Jacas, who opened training camp on the non-football injury list, participated in a limited capacity, remaining sidelined during the team periods. But it didn’t take long for him to make his presence known during the individual drills. At one point, Jacas absolutely overpowered outside linebackers coach Mike Smith’s blocking pad and bowled him over.
Vrabel said Jacas may be able to take team reps on Monday — another positive sign. Even during his time away, Jacas was itching to return.
“He texts me all the time,” Vrabel said. “He texts me late at night, ‘Hey, am I going to practice tomorrow?’ I’m like, ‘No, just like I told you at 6:30 [p.m.] that you’re not going to practice tomorrow. You don’t have to text me at 10 [p.m.] and ask again. The answer is still no, not yet.’ You want that. You want guys that are looking for ways in as opposed to looking for ways out. I think he just wants to get out there, get acclimated, and be with his teammates.”
Jacas spent a portion of practice working one-on-one with Vrabel. It certainly appears he is taking steps in the right direction after such an extended absence.
2. Undrafted rookie tight end Tanner Arkin is continuing to build his case for a spot on the 53-man roster. Arkin’s physicality and ability as a blocker have repeatedly shown up during practice — and his teammates have taken notice.
“Tanner’s a dog,” fullback Reggie Gilliam said. “I love the way he plays ball. He gets his pads on people. He gets his hands on people, and it’s hard to let go. I don’t know if you saw it [Thursday], but he put a few people down.”
There’s an opening for Arkin to earn a role following the season-ending injury to veteran Julian Hill. Vrabel reiterated Saturday that the Patriots will continue to assess all possibilities at that position, but noted Arkin and the other younger players have “the first crack at it.”
Arkin, who played three seasons of college football at Illinois and two at Colorado State, has impressed in his snaps against edge rushers Dre’Mont Jones and Elijah Ponder. Asked if dominating a rep against Jones, a seven-year NFL veteran, boosts his confidence, Arkin delivered an answer that the coaching staff probably loved.
“You can’t have that mindset going up against anybody,” Arkin said. “You got to have the mindset that that’s just another guy. Obviously, you have to know their strengths and weaknesses, but you just got to line up and trust in your training and the type of player you are to go make a play.”
3. The Patriots had Gilliam and left guard Alijah Vera-Tucker take rest days. Cornerback Carlton Davis remained absent for the third-straight day because of an undisclosed injury suffered on Thursday.
Vrabel noted before practice that a few other players — running back Rhamondre Stevenson, right tackle Morgan Moses, and cornerbacks Christian Gonzalez and Marcus Jones — would not take their usual practice load. They all exited the field early. Wide receiver A.J. Brown was not part of the group that Vrabel listed, but also left early.
“I have to weigh what I think is best for them and what everybody needs to be ready,” Vrabel said. “If there is soreness or fatigue, we try to use whatever the analytics is, of the GPS and the tracking and the load management, but also try to understand what they need through the football season. I think our coaches do a good job of trying to manage some of those guys and the reps that they specifically need at practice.”
Wide receiver Kyle Williams also didn’t finish practice for unknown reasons. The training staff tended to him, but it was not clear if he was dealing with an injury, cramps, or heat-related effects. Williams returned to sign autographs, but his status will be worth monitoring when the Patriots return to practice on Monday.
4. Vrabel didn’t show any interest in discussing the status of negotiations for Gonzalez’s potential contract extension, but he continued to applaud him for his conduct.
“Listen, we’ve talked about this contract. It’ll either get done, and when it gets done, that’ll be the progress that’s made. Everybody that’s involved is working hard,” Vrabel said. “I cannot express the professionalism that Gonzo has started camp with. It’s clear that he wants to improve, that he wants to be the best at his craft and at that position. I think he’s made that known by the way he’s come out here to practice.”
Vrabel would not say if the Patriots have a policy that the club will not negotiate with players who are not practicing.
“We just want to have a policy that we want to re-sign players that we draft, we covet, and that we feel like can help us win,” he said. “That is our goal. We want to draft really good players and good people, develop them, have them play for us, re-sign them, and build a team with them. So, whatever policies there are, I think a lot of things are a case-by-case basis.”
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