Patriots Rumors: This Off-Field Violation Prompted Loss Of OTAs

The rules violation that resulted in the Patriots losing two days of organized team activities reportedly occurred in the meeting room, not on the practice field.

ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio on Friday reported New England’s punishment was the result of an illegally scheduled special teams meeting.

“Per a source with knowledge of the situation, it was a meeting violation,” Florio wrote. “According to the source, an observer from the NFL Players Association believed that one of the optional early offseason meetings was a violation, because the 15-minute meeting in question (a special-teams session) was made visible on the internal schedule. In the opinion of the NFLPA, placing the meeting on the formal schedule converted it from ‘optional’ to ‘mandatory.’ “

Florio’s source indicated the infraction had “nothing to do with activities on the practice field, including whether or not there was impermissible contact.” Violations of that rule — not contact during non-padded OTAs — resulted in similar sanctions for other clubs in recent years.

Docking a team two of its 13 spring practices because of a 15-minute meeting seems like an overly harsh punishment. But if this report is accurate, it’s a bizarre example of the Patriots yet again being hurt by their special teams. They were among the league’s worst in that area last season, with a last-place rank in Football Outsiders’ special teams DVOA and a league-high three kick-return touchdowns allowed. Bill Belichick and company devoted significant resources this offseason to improving their kicking game.

Despite those struggles, New England retained special teams coordinator Cam Achord and special teams assistant Joe Houston. It also shifted Joe Judge from quarterbacks coach to an assistant head coach position with a focus on special teams. It’s unclear who scheduled this reported meeting. (UPDATE: According to multiple reports, it was Judge, and those meetings caused players to be at the team facility longer than the maximum four hours per day.)

The Patriots, who held their first two OTAs on Monday and Tuesday, are set to return to the field next Wednesday. Belichick also is scheduled to address the media that day.

All practices, workouts and meetings during OTAs are voluntary for players. New England’s three-day mandatory minicamp runs from June 12-14.