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Monday Patriots Notebook 5/20: News and Notes

Originally posted on PatsFans.com | By Ian Logue | Last updated 5/20/24

Some Patriots news and notes on this Monday:

Back in the Spotlight at OTA’s

The New England Patriots will be front and center today, with the club set to hold its first of three voluntary organized team activities and media members will reportedly be permitted for Monday’s session.

Veterans will be on hand for this one, with the rookies having been in the spotlight previously during the team’s recent rookie minicamp. It should ccertainly be interesting, as Jacoby Brissett will be out there putting in some work, with the veteran beginning the process during the Phase 3 portions of the workout with the other veterans.

For anyone looking at Drake Maye’s play today, any miscues may need to be taken with a grain of salt. Maye and Ja’Lynn Polk spent this weekend in Los Angeles for the NFLPA’s rookie premiere, with the two among 40 players on hand. It ran from May 15-19, which likely means the two spent yesterday flying back to Boston ahead of today’s workout and could be a little jetlagged.

For Polk, he’ll be among receivers getting reps with Brissett, with the veteran looking to build chemistry with his new wideouts in the coming days. How that plays out should be interesting to see, as the expectation is that, barring an incredible preseason by Maye, Brissett will likely be the one under center to begin 2024.

Given what we’ve seen so far, that feels like a tall ask for Maye. Previous practices saw a lot of work with the rookie quarterback on his fundamentals, with Maye appearing very measured and deliberate in his movements from those who watched him throw. That continued into what videos emerged over the weekend, with Maye not looking fluid, still clearly working on the things that the coaching staff put an emphasis on.

As the youngest of the top prospects, it was clear that Maye was going to be a work in progress. That’s also why many will have to remember that this is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s more important to ensure he takes the right path to grow into the player everyone hopes he’ll become, regardless of how long it takes for him to get there. Even if he looks a little robotic, the hope is that these efforts will allow him to move away from some of the habits that plagued him in college.

Head coach Jerod Mayo will speak to reporters later this morning, with Mayo meeting with the media again following his last press conference during rookie minicamp.

Judon On Team’s ‘To Do’ List?

Mike Reiss of ESPN reported on Sunday that after locking up some key members of its roster, New England may potentially be wise to do the same with Matthew Judon.

Judon is heading into the final year of his contract, which is worth a reported $6.5 million. That’s well below the mark for a player of his caliber, which is why Reiss believes that should be up next for the Patriots ahead of the season.

The club adjusted his contract last August, moving up his salary to increase his guaranteed earnings from $2 million to $14 million for 2023. That saw his base value go to $15 million, with another $3 million in incentives. The team didn’t add any additional years, with the goal clearly to simply take care of one of its key defensive players heading into the season.

Unfortunately, things didn’t end up going quite to plan. Judon, instead, is coming off a tough year, having missed most of last season with an elbow injury he suffered in Week 4 against Dallas. That saw the veteran spend two weeks on the injury report as a non-participant, before the club eventually put him on injured reserve.

According to reports, Judon appears to be healthy, with the 32-year-old hopefully ready to pick up where he left off last season. He finished with 13 tackles along with 4 sacks, 9 quarterback hits, 5 tackles for a loss, and a safety, with all four sacks and that safety coming on third down.

Those stats are remarkable given how few games he appeared in. As a result, if he’s able to repeat that production, getting the 32-year-old under contract for a couple of additional seasons would seem like a smart move. Especially for a team that is working toward getting on a fast-track back into postseason contention.

Odds and Ends

Longtime local freelance Boston Sports writer Bill Speros did a nice breakdown of the miles each club will have to travel this season, and the Patriots will certainly be racking them up in 2024. Speros notes that New England will travel the fourth-most miles this season, having to travel 25,071 through 26 time zones. The Los Angeles Chargers (26,803 – 36 time zones) top this list, with the AFC West club having to travel the most this season for a team that will not leave the United States. They’re then followed by Miami (25,869 – 16 time zones), and Seattle (25,797 – 28 time zones). The Commanders (10,550 – 18 time zones), Cincinnati Bengals (10,611 – 12 time zones), and Indianapolis Colts (11,497 – 12 time zones) were at the bottom. … Whether most of us like it or not, the Jets will be front and center for a good portion of this season. Ben Volin of the Boston Globe points out that Aaron Rodgers and company are set for six prime-time games in the first 11 weeks, with the Patriots among those clubs on Thursday Night Football in Week 3. Rodgers debut with the Jets ended before it ever got started in 2023, with the veteran suffering a season-ending Achilles injury on just his fourth snap of the game. … The Patriots have a tough decision to make with JuJu Smith-Schuster, who will be out there this week with what’s considered to be a pretty deep group at receiver. Andrew Callahan pointed out in his Sunday notes that Smith-Schuster will cost $9.6 million in dead money if he’s released in the coming months, or the club could free up $7 million in cap room and incur just a $2.6 million hit if they can trade him. The latter certainly feels unlikely, which will probably mean the team may just have to take the hit and move on given where they sit. They do have enough room to afford parting ways with him, as Patriots cap expert Miguel Benzan has the club currently sitting at over $50 million in available cap space. … Kicker remains a key question mark, with Chad Ryland now facing pressure from newcomer, Joey Slye. Slye heads into this week coming off an emotional weekend as he learned he’s going to be a father in a video on Instagram. It was really cool to watch, adding a nice little side story for a guy who could be in contention to hopefully stabilize what was a shaky position at kicker last season.

This article first appeared on PatsFans.com and was syndicated with permission.

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