Why has Trent Brown been limited at training camp? Here’s what the Patriots’ starting offensive tackle said on Monday.
Trent Brown spoke to the media on Monday afternoon after a rain-soaked practice and confirmed that his limitations at training camp are not contract-related. Quite the contrary, he expressed frustrations for not being able to join his teammates on the practice field.
For much of the spring and training camp, the Patriots’ left tackle has spent most of his time working off to the side on conditioning, while the rest of the team practiced without him in competitive drills.
Similarly, Matthew Judon was on the same path, but his tweaked contract over the weekend put him back on track as a full participant. That begged the question: Was Brown’s absence due to a contract issue? Well, according to Brown himself, that isn’t the case.
Brown also mentioned that he is dealing with something injury-related, but it shouldn’t affect his Week 1 status against the Philadelphia Eagles in the regular season opener.
When he is healthy and on his game, Brown is an above average offensive tackle. Like most of the players on the team, he checked out last season with the offense in turmoil. However, this year, he arrived in great shape and locked in. The Patriots offense has been struggling without Brown and starting guard Mike Onwenu.
Let’s hope Brown can heal up quickly to give fans a taste of what the team could look like with a healthy offensive line. This could simply be a situation of the team taking it easy on a banged-up, talented lineman and saving him for when it really matters.
As for now, the depth is thinning up front, and Brown’s absence makes it even more glaring.
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