FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Paging, Ja’Lynn Polk. The New England Patriots now have two training camp practices in the books, and the second-year wide receiver has been missing in action for both sessions, further creating an uphill climb for the 2024 second-round pick to make the opening 53-man roster.
Polk was limited throughout the spring, but was on the field with his helmet. Oftentimes, he was off to the side alongside fellow wideout Stefon Diggs, working individually, particularly during competitive 7-on-7 or 11-on-11 drills. As Diggs progressed in his ACL rehab to the point where he’s been an active participant over the first two days of camp, Polk hasn’t practiced whatsoever. ESPN reported early Thursday morning that Polk initially passed his physical, but later had minor muscle tightness, which is what is keeping him sidelined. Whatever the reason, it’s ill-timed.
At the moment, the Patriots have 12 wide receivers on their training camp roster. That could be cut down by more than half when New England gets around to trimming to 53 players later this summer. While Polk has the pedigree of being the 37th overall pick just a couple of years ago, that’s where the case begins and ends for his placement on the team currently.
After an encouraging spring in 2024, which featured a walk-off touchdown reception in the back corner of the end zone during the final minicamp practice of that spring, Polk foundered as a rookie, and executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf even acknowledged the team “stunted his growth.” He finished the year with just 12 receptions for 87 yards and two touchdowns over the course of 15 games played. That’s hardly a sturdy enough foundation to buy him time to make the team, especially with this being an entirely new coaching staff from the one that drafted him.
That poor rookie campaign, coupled with this new regime, creates urgency for Polk to see the field sooner rather than later so that he can make a legitimate push for a roster spot. If not, it’s hard to see a world where he makes it on merit and would only be slotted in due to his draft stature.
If we were to project how New England’s wide receiver depth chart looks for the opening 53-man roster and assume they’ll carry six pass catchers (a hefty number), Polk would still be an odd man out. Even if New England decides to hold seven (!) receivers, Polk wouldn’t even be guaranteed that spot with fellow 2024 draftee Javon Baker and 2025 undrafted standout Efton Chism III competing.
Patriots WR depth chart projection
- Stefon Diggs
- DeMario Douglas
- Mack Hollins
- Kyle Williams
- Kendrick Bourne
- Kayshon Boutte
This is all simply highlighting that Polk is losing ground that he desperately needs.
Here’s a look at what else occurred during Thursday’s session.
Drake Maye says Patriots are ‘tired of losing;’ examining New England’s chances of rebounding in 2025
Tyler Sullivan
Kendrick Bourne embracing WR battle
One last note on the wide receiver battle. You’d think that a dozen guys fighting for what could be five or six spots could make things a bit awkward and/or heated, especially now that we’ve arrived at the show up or be shown out juncture of training camp. However, Kendrick Bourne is embracing it.
“It’s actually awesome,” Bourne said when asked about the competition after practice. “I think it’s better than it’s ever been from my experience being here. I’m really enjoying it, man. You love to have challenge. You love the environment of competition. It really brings the best out of you. … The cards are going to play out how they play out. I don’t have any predictions. I’m just doing what I’m supposed to do, and I think the room needs to have that mindset.”
Through two practices, Bourne has performed well and has twitchiness to him that stands out among his peers. Last year, the veteran wideout was rebounding off of a torn ACL he suffered during 2023 and said Thursday he feels more like himself, especially after being able to participate throughout the offseason.
That may be what is giving him the enthusiasm to compete for a roster spot, along with New England going back to Josh McDaniels as the offensive coordinator. Under McDaniels in 2021, Bourne hauled in a career-best 800 yards receiving and five touchdowns on 55 receptions.
“I’m just very comfortable in it,” he said of McDaniels’ offense.
Efficient, but conservative day for Drake Maye
Thursday’s training camp practice was a bit of a snoozer. The offense primarily worked the quick game throughout the session, which led to Drake Maye completing 14 of his 15 pass attempts overall. While that completion percentage is astounding, there were a lot of checkdowns and high-percentage throws out to running backs that inflated his numbers. That said, Maye did seem to try to look for downfield passes at times, but his options appeared to be bottled up, which led to checkdowns. Specifically, during his third period of 11-on-11s, I spotted three consecutive instances where Maye’s initial read was deeper down the field, but then settled for checks to Rhamondre Stevenson, Pop Douglas, and then Antonio Gibson. Maye’s lone incompletion was a PBU at the line of scrimmage.
Through two days of camp, I have Maye completing 22 of his 24 pass attempts during 11-on-11 drills.
Pop Douglas hauls in catch of the day
While Maye’s passes were a bit muted, that doesn’t mean there weren’t some fireworks through the air. During the first period of 11-on-11s with Joshua Dobbs under center, the veteran uncorked a deep ball down the left sideline to DeMario Douglas. The third-year receiver leapt and twirled midair to make the catch over corner Marcellas Dial Jr.. He tapped both feet in bounds, which was met with a roar from the fans in attendance.
Over his first two seasons, Douglas has produced 561 and 621 yards receiving, respectively. He’s among the best on the roster at getting separation in small spaces close to the line of scrimmage, which makes him a legit breakout candidate within McDaniels’ offense, and plays like this could be the early flashes of that.
New England’s offseason was headlined by the many additions on the defensive side of the ball, but arguably the biggest X factor in the unit becoming one of the NFL’s elite is the health of Christian Barmore. The 2021 second-round pick missed the bulk of the 2024 season due to blood clot issues, but has since arrived at training camp in tremendous condition.
The 25-year-old looked much leaner than he did entering the league, and that’s by design. Barmore noted that he’s down to 305 pounds after weighing in at 325 pounds two years ago.
“Oh yeah, you see that,” a smiling Barmore said when a reporter pointed out he looked slimmer.
“Really, man just doing a lot of conditioning, a lot of running, a lot of core workouts and all that,” he continued. “Just working hard with [director of sports performance Frank Piraino], too. Had a good plan for me to keep on, really just having me in the best shape as possible. These coaches I have and the medical staff just really have good people to help me get in the best possible shape I could be in, and I’m really grateful for that.”
Naturally, Barmore noted that he feels “way quicker” down at this new weight.
“I feel like I move way better,” he said. “It’s the best I’ve felt since I’ve been in the league, I feel like.”
Unlike Day 1 of training camp, where Barmore appeared to be fully in the mix, he was limited on Thursday, working off to the side with coaches while 11-on-11s were occurring. When asked about that, he said he was simply following the plan set up for him by the coaching staff.
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Author: Tyler Sullivan
July 24, 2025 | 4:26 pm
