PHILADELPHIA — You know that “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” GIF? The one of Will Smith standing alone in an empty room?
That was Devin Asiasi on Tuesday.
Injuries to Hunter Henry, Jonnu Smith, Matt LaCosse and Troy Fumagalli left Asiasi as the last man standing in the New England Patriots’ tight end group. He was the only Patriots tight end healthy enough to participate in the team’s second joint practice with the Eagles — and could be the lone player available at his position for Thursday night’s preseason game at Lincoln Financial Field.
As such, Asiasi rarely left the field Tuesday, playing 15 of the Patriots’ 18 total snaps in 11-on-11 drills.
“We’ve got a couple guys down, but I’ve just got to step up and play my role,” Asiasi said. “Knowing what I’ve got to do out there, knowing how to execute and all that. It’s just stepping up and playing ball at the end of the day.”
Henry suffered a shoulder injury last Sunday and has yet to return to practice, though he did don full pads the last two days for rehab workouts with strength coach Moses Cabrera. Smith watched both joint practices in sweats after injuring his ankle on Sunday.
LaCosse, the third man in New England’s tight end hierarchy behind those two free agent additions, was knocked out of Monday’s practice and wasn’t spotted Tuesday. Fumagalli was an observer Tuesday, sidelined with an undisclosed injury. The Patriots also placed Dalton Keene on injured reserve last weekend and cut David Wells.
That parade of injuries and exits has created a valuable opportunity for Asiasi, who likely would have received minimal first-team reps had Henry and Smith both been healthy. The second-year pro dropped a pass Tuesday during a red-zone 7-on-7 drill but rebounded with a touchdown catch from quarterback Mac Jones on the final passing rep of practice.
It was Asiasi’s first reception in a competitive 11-on-11 setting this summer.
“Obviously, (I saw) more reps and getting out there a little more than the last couple days,” the 24-year-old said. “Just taking it rep by rep and just trying to improve and trying to understand my assignments as I go out there.”
Asiasi is looking to improve on an underwhelming rookie season that featured just two total receptions in nine games. The 2020 third-round draft pick also continues to work his way back to full speed after a positive COVID-19 diagnosis kept him out of the first nine practices of training camp.
Asiasi, who is vaccinated, said he was “locked up in (his) apartment for a week-and-a-half” after his positive test, which set him back from a conditioning standpoint.
“It kind of puts a toll on your body,” he said. “And since I wasn’t putting any work in, any conditioning, because I couldn’t go anywhere, that played a big part in it. Then coming out here, obviously not having a week to kind of get into everything like everyone else had, I just had to string myself along and just catch up as I could.”
Since his return to the field, Asiasi said he’s been focused on “getting more rest and hydrating a lot more.” He played 12 snaps in last week’s preseason opener against the Washington Football Team and likely will log far more than that Thursday night.
“(I’m looking for) improvement from last week,” Asiasi said. “I had a couple snaps last week, got in there, got my feet wet a little bit. But Coach always makes the point that we want to dive head in first, so I’m going out there to play ball.”
