FOXBORO, Mass. — For a while, the New England Patriots’ wide receiver corps seemed to be reenacting a “Final Destination” movie.
Every day, a new wide receiver would depart for the lower practice field to work on conditioning while recovering from a minor injury. Running back D.J. Foster even was forced to play wide receiver during a scrimmage because of the dwindling numbers.
The Patriots’ wideouts —Â second-year pro Malcolm Mitchell among them — now have mostly healed. Rookie Cody Hollister sported a red non-contact jersey Monday, but Matthew Slater was the lone receiver not practicing in the Patriots’ final day of open training camp at Gillette Stadium.
“Obviously I wasn’t out there 100 percent of the time, so today was the first time I got to run around, have fun, be out there with the team,” Mitchell said Monday.
Mitchell said he “felt good” Monday but admitted being excluded from team drills took its toll.
“Any time you can’t do something you really love it gets a little frustrating,” Mitchell said.
Wide receiver Danny Amendola also took part in team drills for the first time in weeks. It’s unclear whether Mitchell and Amendola, both of whom were recovering from undisclosed ailments, were on the field because the Patriots were holding the practice in shells in shorts or if they would have been healthy enough to participate even in a fully padded practice.
We’ll get a better sense Tuesday when the Patriots hold joint practices against the Houston Texans. If Mitchell and Amendola are on the field, they could be good to go Saturday in the Patriots-Texans preseason matchup.
Hopefully Mitchell’s increased workload doesn’t cut into his time watching “Game Of Thrones.”
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
