FOXBORO, Mass. — Patriots left guard Logan Mankins has gone through his first full week of practice since reporting to the team, but his status for Sunday’s game in Cleveland remains to be seen.
Head coach Bill Belichick said Mankins’ situation would be handled on a day-to-day basis, and he wouldn’t tip his hand on Mankins’ availability against the Browns.
“[Mankins] looks all right,” Belichick said. “I think he’s got a ways to go, as you would expect, but he looks like he’s in pretty good condition. Logan is a smart guy. He works hard. He’s just got to get better at doing things that he hasn’t done in awhile.”
Linebacker Tully Banta-Cain was a surprise absence for Friday morning’s practice, which was held inside the stadium with the players suited up in sweats and shells. Also missing were running back Fred Taylor (toe) and safety Jarrad Page (left calf).
The Patriots were granted a two-week roster exemption for Mankins, which means he won’t count against the 53-man roster until the team decides to activate him, or the exemption expires. Once either instances occurs, the Patriots will need to release a player to make room on the roster, which makes Belichick’s decision even trickier.
First and foremost, Belichick wants to make sure Mankins is healthy enough to contribute, and that is something that will take a few days to observe. The Patriots’ lone full-padded practice this week was Thursday, so Belichick wanted to make sure Mankins recovered well from the contact.
“We had a good day [Thursday] in terms of contact, padded and all that,” Belichick said. “We’ll see how things are [Friday], take a look at it [Saturday]. A lot of times, it’s the day after, or two days after with players who are coming back, whether it’s injuries or, in this case, he wasn’t here, or whatever it happens to be. The more days, the more time you have, I think the better you feel about the situation one way or the other, however it goes.”
