New England Patriots: 3 players Bill Belichick praised during the week
New England Patriots and N’Keal Harry mending fences?
Even more surprising as Cam Newton being cut prior to the 2021 NFL season, is N’Keal Harry still being a member of the New England Patriots.
After suffering a shoulder injury in the team’s second preseason game, Harry was placed on injured reserve to start the season which means the former first-round pick may still have a role on the team.
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While it seemed highly likely Harry would be either traded or released prior to training camp when he reportedly requested a trade, the third-year wide receiver had himself a pretty good training camp and appeared to get back in the good graces of Belichick who had some optimistic words for the Arizona State product on Tuesday.
"“Well, I think N’Keal had a good camp,” Belichick said when asked about the wide receiver. “Again, last year was a lot different for all of us, so it’s hard to compare last year to anything. Really just looking at this year. I thought N’Keal had a good camp, and I’m glad we have him. I think he’ll make a big contribution to our team. We’ll see how it all goes, and from a time standpoint of when he’ll be able to get back on the field, but I know he’s working hard and is making progress with his rehab. So we’ll just keep monitoring that and see how it goes.”"
So, what about that trade request Bill? Well, the coach went on to say any conversations between him and a player’s agent is private and then went on to say his relationship with Harry is pretty good. It certainly sounds that way given Belichick’s confidence in Harry making a “big contribution” this season.
The takeaway here is that the New England Patriots don’t seem to be giving up on Harry, at least not yet. Although the kid hasn’t exactly set the NFL on fire during his first two seasons in the NFL, he has been injured for a lot of that and he has also played with two quarterbacks with two different styles.
With less pressure on him this season, perhaps he can find a little chemistry with Mac Jones. He did catch a pass from him during the preseason and was also targeted on a deep ball, which happened to be the play he was injured on.