It was a rough day with injuries for the Patriots in their first padded practice on Monday.
The New England Patriots got a taste of real football with their first training camp practice in pads on Monday.
And it wasn’t pretty.
Multiple players suffered injuries during the practice, including Cole Strange, Bill Murray, Jalen Hurd, Scotty Washington, Chasen Hines and Brad Hawkins.
Strange’s injury is especially concerning considering he’s a starter in an offensive line group that’s already banged up. His absence meant the Patriots practiced with both starting guards, including Michael Onwenu, out of the lineup.
The cracks are showing in competitive drills with quarterback Mac Jones constantly being under pressure. It has been even more evident when the field shrinks and the offense is working in the red zone.
Real football means more chances for injuries for a Patriots team that needs to stay healthy just to have a fighting chance in the AFC East division.
Bad day for Patriots injuries. Cole Strange, Scotty Washington, Chasen Hines and Jalen Hurd all spent time in the medical tent, and Brad Hawkins had to be helped off the field. Bill Murray also looked like he got dinged up on the final play of practice.
Some of the injuries mentioned above might have simply been the result of players being shaken up, but NESN’s Zack Cox also noted Strange was grabbing at his knee in discomfort before being taken to the athletic training shed.
Stay tuned to Patriots Wire as injury updates continue to come in.
Here’s a list of every Patriots player to wear the No. 62 jersey number.
The New England Patriots are now officially 62 days away from their season-opening showdown with the Philadelphia Eagles on September 10.
So we’re continuing out countdown series by listing every Patriots player that has ever worn the No. 62 jersey.
Offensive guard Bill Murray, who made the switch from the defensive line to the offensive line, currently wears the number. Murray has earned significant praise from coach Bill Belichick recently for his willingness to switch positions and excel at the next level.
One thing is certain in New England: You know you’re doing great when Belichick puts you on his “nobody works harder” list.
Belichick again this morning when asked about Bill Murray: "Nobody works harder than Bill." https://t.co/deuLu6afNb
Meanwhile, Joe Thuney had a stellar run with the Patriots before leaving and joining the Kansas City Chiefs.
Of course, those are just two of 15 total players that have worn the number. Here’s every Patriots player that has worn the No. 62 throughout franchise history:
Who stood out the most for the Patriots during the spring practices?
The New England Patriots have finished up the last of their spring practices and will be taking the next few weeks off before returning in late July for training camp.
Even though the players weren’t in pads, things clearly got competitive on the practice field. Just ask Anfernee Jennings, Christian Barmore and Cole Strange, who were all involved in a brief dust-up during organized team activities.
We didn’t get a full course meal, but we were able to feast on enough appetizers to know this team is ready for training camp. The defense could be a real juggernaut in 2023, and the additional playmakers, particularly the rookies, could play a major role right out of the gates.
Meanwhile, the offense has shown real strides in the spring practices. This is no longer the predicted train wreck unit is was last year around this time.
Here are the 10 biggest standouts during the spring practices for the Patriots:
It’s possible that if you’re reading this, Bill Murray is in the stands at UConn’s championship game against San Diego State. As a certain character of his might say, it’s been a real Cinderella story for the Huskies, and as you’ll see below, Murray has been in attendance for a bunch of the team’s games in the 2023 NCAA men’s tournament.
But why, you ask? Wasn’t it only a few years ago that Murray was a Xavier superfan? Well, yes! And the reason is the same!
Golfweek has learned Bill Murray may have made his final weekend appearance at Pebble Beach.
Bill Murray may have made his final appearance on the weekend at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Golfweek has learned that the PGA Tour is expected to make the annual stop at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California, one of the eight designated events, beginning in 2024. As a result, the Tour is considering shortening the amateur portion to 36 holes played on Thursday and Friday only over two courses, rather than all 72 holes over three courses with a 54-hole cut to the top 30 teams. So long, celebrity Saturday.
Jack Nicklaus spilled the beans about Pebble’s elevated status during an interview at the Honda Classic last week.
“I heard that,” said AT&T ambassador Jordan Spieth, who won the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in 2017, and has been campaigning for the tournament to receive a better spot on the schedule. “That was maybe a bit premature.”
Including Pebble Beach in that elite group would mark yet another drastic change for the Tour – reducing the field from 156 to between 70-80 players and bumping the purse from $9 million to $20 million – at a tournament that dates to 1937 and started out in Rancho Sante Fe, California, when Bing Crosby invited some friends to play golf, enjoy a clambake and a raise a little money for charity.
“I voiced that I feel that we have this opportunity where the top guys are committing to play in the same events then we should look at the most iconic venues and make sure that we’re doing it there because that feels like the coolest scenario for ratings, for sponsors,” Spieth said. “Let’s figure out what can be done. I don’t know what that looks like. I don’t even know if they do. For AT&T to be open to it would be really cool because I love that golf tournament and it had been an unfortunate part of the schedule ever since the Saudi stuff and even before that.”
Justin Rose won the most recent edition in February, which featured just three of the top 20 and 21 of the top 100 players in the world.
Crosby’s Clambake, as it was affectionately called, shifted to Pebble when Monterey Peninsula Herald Sports Editor Ted Durein and a group of sports-minded persons on the Peninsula suggested to the famed crooner, who had become a member of Cypress Point Club, that he move his golf tournament to help fill hotel rooms and restaurants in Monterey during January’s off-season. And beginning in 1947, fill them they did, as Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill Golf Course (1967-76, 1978-), Cypress Point (1947-1990), Poppy Hills Golf Course (1991-2009) and Monterey Peninsula Country Club. Frank Sinatra, Steve Young, Johnny Bench, Clint Eastwood, Jack Lemmon and Murray are among the stars of screen and field who became regulars. Crosby invited the country – many of them snowed in and dreaming of when they too could hit the fairways again – to a tournament that became world-renowned through a top-rated television show.
Spectators focused as pro Ken Venturi, center, drove from the tee on the 450-yard par 4 ninth hole at Pebble Beach in second round in the 19th annual Bing Crosby National Pro-Amateur Golf Championship, January 23, 1960, Pebble Beach, Calif.
Crosby wrote in the prologue to “The Crosby: Greatest Show in Golf,” that when asked what he considered his highest and most gratifying achievement in life, “the answer is immediate. This golf tournament … When I think I’ve had a hand in this, my cup runneth over.”
“It has a great history, so I think that’s the only challenge there. How do you change a little bit of the Bing Crosby and still maintain the history, probably the most historic regular event,” Spieth said. “Maybe one course, maybe two courses. There are a lot of options. That will all come down to balancing what the players are willing to go there and do and what the sponsor wants.”
Steve John, Monterey Peninsula Foundation’s CEO and tournament director, said he had nothing to add to this story as “conversations with key partners are ongoing.”
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“No one wanted to play with him, and I just thought, you know what, I don’t care what I shoot.”
Thirty years ago, the odd couple of comedian-actor Bill Murray and PGA Tour pro Scott Simpson joined forces to become an unforgettable duo at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Simpson, who is in his second year as men’s golf coach at University of Hawaii, recalled to Golfweek at the Sony Open in Hawaii the story of how their partnership came to fruition. The incredible part of it is that apparently no one wanted to play with Murray except for, of all people, Simpson.
As Simpson tells it, Murray had played the previous year in the pro-am with journeyman pro John Adams. Simpson remembers watching on TV Murray’s antics with the gallery and thinking they were hilarious, but when Adams was asked, ‘How is it playing with the fun-loving Murray’, he complained that he found it distracting and wasn’t able to concentrate on his game.
“He said, ‘It’s really not much fun,’ or something like that,” Simpson recalled. “I went to the putting green after and Peter Jacobsen, who played for years with actor Jack Lemmon, is there and I said to him, ‘Peter, can you imagine John Adams saying this isn’t fun? That’s the most fun you can have on the golf course, playing with Bill Murray.’ He goes, ‘Scott, you’ve got to play with him next year.’ My caddie was Jim Mackay, Bones – he caddied for me before Phil Mickelson. I taught him everything. He caddied for my buddy Larry Mize first – and Bones said, ‘You tell him you want to play with Murray next year.’
“Actually, when Bones left me for Mickelson – which was great, you know. I was really happy for him to get this guy who’s so talented and going to do great things. He says, ‘But there’s one thing I want, one thing I’m going to ask you for, I want to caddie with your group with Bill Murray next year.’ Even though he was working for Phil, he caddied for me at Pebble.”
Scott Simpson lines up a birdie putt on the 18th hole during the final round of the 2006 Boeing Championships at Sandestin. (Jason Parkhurst)
Jacobsen and Mackay talked Simpson into writing a letter to tournament officials requesting to play with Murray. On paper, it seemed like a mismatch with Simpson, a regular at weekly bible study meetings, considered to be too staid for Murray’s on-course schtick. But two weeks before the tournament the following year, officials asked Simpson if he still wanted to play with Murray.
“Absolutely,” Simpson said. “No one wanted to play with him, and I just thought, you know what, I don’t care what I shoot. This is going to be the most fun week in the world. I didn’t care. Because I get the front row seat. He would slice it over into the people and the people would start clapping because they knew he was coming to them, and rightfully so.
“They had these ladies that would make cookies for all the AT&T executives. He would go, ‘Can I have one of those?’ Oh, sure, Mr. Murray. Next thing you know he grabs the whole batch of them and he’s throwing them to the people in the gallery. One time at Spyglass, he went to a cart of a Ben & Jerry’s vendor and same thing: ‘Can I have one of those? Oh, sure’. Next thing you know he’s throwing one to everyone in the gallery, ‘Hey, you look like a Cherry Garcia.’ He emptied it, and the guy who owned the Ben & Jerry’s thing out there, he’s in shock and he goes, “Oh, my God, I wanted him to have one, but oh, no, I’m going to lose money.’ Murray left him like $500. He just went over there and gave him like $500. Just stuff like that.”
Simpson had so much fun that first year that he kept signing up to play with Murray year after year.
“I said, ‘You can play with someone else, you know. He said, ‘Oh, no, we’ve got to win it.’ He says, ‘We’ve got two rules. We’re going to have the most fun and we’re going to win.’ We always accomplished at least one goal,” Simpson said.
Simpson and Murray, who played together 13 times between 1993 and 2007, finished as high as a tie for fourth in the pro-am division (2004), but never took home the hardware. (Simpson did win the 2006 First Tee Open on PGA Tour Champions with Murray as his partner.)
“He finally won with D.A. Points (in 2011), and he goes on the David Letterman Show, and Letterman goes to him, ‘So, Bill, you won that golf tournament out there, huh?’ ‘Oh, yeah, Dave. Big deal.’ He says, ‘You know, my partner D.A. won the pro thing, but the big news was we won (the pro-am).’ Letterman goes, ‘Didn’t you play with another guy for a long time?’ He goes, ‘Yeah, Dave, I played with this guy named Scott Simpson for about 14 years. He brought me down, Dave. He brought me down. Then he looks at the camera, ‘And you know you did,’ ” Simpson recalls with a laugh. “That was so classic. ‘You know you did.’ Geez. Good fun.”
It must be Groundhog Day because Bill Murray is returning to the Patriots!
The New England Patriots announced on Tuesday they have signed offensive lineman Bill Murray to a future contract.
Murray has switched sides of the football during his time in New England. He started off as a defensive lineman before switching over to the offensive side of the ball for the 2022 season.
He was part of New England’s 2020 undrafted free agent class, coming to the organization from William & Mary. This could be a big season for Murray, as he looks to carve out a spot for himself on the team’s expanded roster for the 2023 season. He is currently on track to participate in OTA’s, mini-camp, and training camp.
Back in December, he finally had an opportunity to make his regular season debut. He’ll be looking to see the field more at a time when the Patriots are trying to retool and add depth on the offensive line.
New England has work to do as they turn the page to the 2023 season. Signing Murray ties up loose ends and allows for depth at a position group that struggled mightily last season.
These players were not signed to future contracts by the Patriots.
The New England Patriots are making the necessary preparations for a long offseason ahead, including the planning of their 2023 practice squad.
After the team signed 11 players to future contracts last week, that leaves at least five more pending free agents. Keep in mind, some of the names on the list are players that have been involved in at least some way with the Patriots organization off and on.
So there’s a chance they could be back at some point.
Granted, the Patriots are hopeful to have an overall healthier season to avoid leaning too heavily on their practice squad for help, which was often the case throughout the 2022 season.
But then again, it’s always a good thing to have options, and one of the players not signed to a future deal could prove to be an option to either the Patriots or another team down the road.
The Patriots elevate two players ahead of showdown with the Bills.
The New England Patriots are adding another kicker to the active roster and bolstering the offensive line depth ahead of Thursday’s clash with the visiting Buffalo Bills.
Per an official team report, backup kicker Tristan Vizcaino and offensive guard Bill Murray have been elevated to the gameday roster.
Murray being chosen makes sense considering all of the uncertainty right now on the Patriots’ offensive line. Veteran tackle Isaiah Wynn has already been ruled out for the game with a foot injury, while David Andrews, Trent Brown and Yodny Cajuste are listed as questionable. If multiple players are out, it could set the stage for musical chairs along the offensive front.
Meanwhile, Vizcaino could be charged with handling kick-off duties, while Nick Folk handles the field goal responsibilities. Kicking could be a problem in the game with high winds expected to be a factor early.
The Patriots hope to avoid a third straight loss in their head-to-head meetings with the Bills, and both Murray and Vizcaino could potentially have a role in helping them do so.
