The New England Patriots had 21 players absent from Thursday’s session of voluntary organized team activities.
According to reporters on the scene, those players included: Dont’a Hightower, Stephon Gilmore, Devin McCourty, James White, Lawrence Guy, Jonnu Smith, Isaiah Wynn, Trent Brown, Kyle Van Noy, Chase Winovich, Sony Michel, J.C. Jackson, Adrian Phillips, Matthew Judon, Nick Folk, Christian Barmore, Rhamondre Stevenson, Tre Nixon, Byron Cowart, Brandon Bolden and Harvey Langi.
Anfernee Jennings, Dalton Keene, Damien Harris, Cameron McGrone and Joshuah Bledsoe were present but didn’t participate in practice.
Belichick was asked specifically about Hightower’s absence.
“With all the players that are on the roster and not here, then my expectations are that they intend to play, but we know things can change and that’s always part of life and part of football,” Belichick told reporters on Thursday ahead of practice. “So, we’ll take it as it comes. … I know that a lot of the guys that are aren’t here, I know they’re working hard.
First Patriots practice open to the media… in the books.
No Hightower, Gilmore, McCourty, White, Guy, J. Smith, Wynn, T. Brown, Van Noy, Winovich, Michel, JC Jackson, Phillips, Judon, Folk, Barmore, Stevenson, Nixon, Cowart, Bolden, Langi. pic.twitter.com/4hQTu1gVZx
— Phil Perry (@PhilAPerry) May 27, 2021
“And again, each guy has his own circumstances, so I’m not going to get into that, but we’ll see how it goes on for some of the players that aren’t here, which there’s a number of them that aren’t, but we’ll welcome them when they get here,” Belichick added. “It’s all voluntary. So, when they’re here, they’re here and we’ll work with them.”
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