Patriots Practice Notes: Devin McCourty Absent, Still Expected To Play

FOXBORO, Mass. — The New England Patriots were down two captains and the 2019 NFL Defensive Player of the Year on Saturday in practice.

Quarterback and offensive captain Cam Newton and cornerback Stephon Gilmore remain on the COVID/reserve list and weren’t present. Free safety and defensive captain Devin McCourty also was absent.

A source told NESN.com that McCourty is “good” and still fully expected to play Monday against the Denver Broncos. It seems his absence was not injury or illness related.

Reporters only were permitted to watch the stretching portion of practice, so there was no information to glean on who would start at quarterback between Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer if Newton isn’t activated by Monday.

We did see that Patriots practice squad wide receiver Kristian Wilkerson was wearing a No. 81 pinnie and practice squad wideout Devin Ross donned a No. 10 pinnie. That means that Wilkerson was imitating Broncos wideout Tim Patrick and Ross was playing the role of Jerry Jeudy in practice.

The Patriots are set to hold a walk-through closed to the media Sunday before Monday’s game against the Broncos, which kicks off at 5:02 p.m. ET on ESPN.