FOXBORO, Mass. — The New England Patriots dialed down the intensity Thursday, taking the field without helmets or pads for a walkthrough ahead of Sunday’s matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs at Gillette Stadium.
The Patriots have had perfect attendance at practice throughout the week, and there were no noticeable absences Thursday, though the nature of a non-padded nature session makes it difficult to get an exact count of which players were present.
The most noteworthy observation from the brief portion of practice open to the media was rookie running back Sony Michel riding a stationary bike on the sideline while his teammates went through their usual warmups. Michel was limited in practice Wednesday with a knee injury.
A knee ailment previously sidelined the first-round draft pick for the entire preseason and the regular-season opener. Michel has played in the Patriots’ last four games, carrying the ball 18 times for 98 yards and a touchdown in last Thursday’s win over the Indianapolis Colts.
Michel has shouldered a heavy workload of late, ranking second in the NFL with 43 rushing attempts over the past two games. He is one of three running backs currently on the Patriots’ 53-man roster, along with third-down back James White and the recently re-signed Kenjon Barner.
New England also re-signed running back Kenneth Farrow to the practice squad earlier this week.
Tight ends Rob Gronkowski (ankle) and Jacob Hollister (chest), wide receiver Josh Gordon (hamstring), cornerback Eric Rowe (groin), defensive tackles Malcom Brown (knee) and Danny Shelton (elbow) defensive end John Simon (shoulder) were among those who participated in warmups after being limited Wednesday.
