Patriots’ veteran players report to training camp today

Training camp is right around the corner. The first wave of players already reported to the New England Patriots’ 2019 camp on Sunday: rookies as well as veterans recovering from injuries arrived at Gillette Stadium to go through initial weigh-ins and physical testing, and either be cleared for camp or placed on one of the available reserve lists. In total, seven of the players checking in took the second route three days ago.

The list might grow even further when the remaining players on New England’s roster — veterans not previously recovering from medical issues — report to camp today and go through examinations and the conditioning test. Every player that has not arrived in Foxboro as part of Sunday’s group is expected to participate; the team is not in any contract negotiations prompting players to hold out. That being said, don’t be surprised if not all players get cleared for tomorrow’s first practice.

One player that seems like a candidate for that is veteran wide receiver Julian Edelman. The reigning Super Bowl MVP will reportedly miss around three weeks because of a thumb injury, and the Patriots are expected to take the corresponding action today and likely place him on the physically unable to perform list (PUP). Once on the reserve list, Edelman would join seven of his teammates that were already moved there on Sunday:

RB Sony Michel (PUP)

WR Demaryius Thomas (PUP)

OT Yodny Cajuste (Non-Football Injury)

OT Cole Croston (PUP)

DE Deatrich Wise Jr. (PUP)

CB Ken Webster (PUP)

SS Nate Ebner (PUP)

Of course, players can be activated off PUP (and NFI) at any time and are then no longer allowed to rejoin the lists. This means that Edelman — should he indeed open camp on a reserve list, most likely PUP — could be back on the ‘normal’ roster rather quickly. Given the reported status of his injury, however, that is not expected to happen. Instead, he will likely return by mid-August unless there are any setbacks until then.

Theoretically, he and the other players on PUP/NFI could remain there until roster cutdowns and beyond, though: at that point, they would be moved from the current active/PUP/NFI list to reserve/PUP/NFI and would have to sit out at least the first six regular season contests. Edelman’s injury won’t call for this, but it might be a more realistic scenario for other players either already on the list or about to be placed there today.

Whatever the case, make sure to check Pats Pulpit regularly for all the latest news and updates about the Patriots’ training camp reporting — and much more.