Early in his first virtual news conference of training camp, Bill Belichick was asked about the statuses of Stephon Gilmore and N’Keal Harry.
For both, he offered a similar variation of “no comment.”
Gilmore, the New England Patriots’ star cornerback, wants a new contract. Is there any progress on that front?
“Yeah, we’re not going to talk publicly about contracts,” Belichick replied.
How about Harry, the disappointing third-year receiver whose agent recently shared a public trade request?
“Not going to talk about contracts and personal situations,” Belichick said.
Belichick did confirm that Gilmore, who reported for camp last week after skipping voluntary spring workouts and mandatory minicamp, has been on site rehabbing the partially torn quad that ended his 2020 season. The 2019 NFL Defensive Player of the Year was one of eight players placed on the active/physically unable to perform list last Thursday.
“We’ll evaluate the progress,” Belichick said.
Harry, the Patriots’ top pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, enters camp no higher than fourth on the team’s wideout depth chart behind Nelson Agholor, Jakobi Meyers and Kendrick Bourne (with All-Pro punt returner Gunner Olszewski also a near-lock to make the roster). If Harry is not traded, he’ll compete with the likes of Isaiah Zuber, Kristian Wilkerson, Marvin Hall and rookie Tre Nixon for one of the final roster spots.
The Patriots are scheduled to hold their first training camp practice Wednesday morning outside Gillette Stadium.
