The New England Patriots were back on the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium today for their second day of on-field preparation for their upcoming Monday night meeting with the New York Jets. While the same three players as yesterday — wide receiver Josh Gordon (knee/ankle), tight end Matt LaCosse (knee), defensive end Michael Bennett (team suspension) — were absent, a new name was added to the list of no-shows.
During the first few minutes of the full-pads session that were open to members of the media, tight end Ryan Izzo was nowhere to be found. As a result, the Patriots had only two of their four tight ends available — both of which only recently being signed to the team’s 53-man roster: Benjamin Watson, who spent the entire offseason in New England after coming back from his retirement in May, and free agency pickup Eric Tomlinson.
The reason for Izzo’s absence was in fact injury related: according to ESPN Boston’s Mike Reiss, the second-year man was evaluated by the team’s medical staff for a possible concussion. If placed in the league’s concussion protocol, it would be a surprise to see him play against the Jets three days from now — meaning that there is a realistic scenario that Watson and Tomlinson are the one-two punch at tight end on Monday.
Of course, more details will be available as soon as the Patriots have released their injury report later today.