After being absent from the practice field the first four days of training camp, second-year wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk was a full participant on Monday.
With day five bringing us the first fully padded practice of camp, Polk was out on the field without a red non-contact jersey, even though the 23-year-old was reportedly out the first four days with minor muscle tightness.
It was full-go for a player that needs to be full-go to secure a role on the 2025 roster, and the University of Washington-product looked like the player we saw during the 2024 camp season.
And while that 2024 camp performance did not translate into a successful 2024 campaign for the 37th overall pick, Patriots fans should want Polk picking up where he left off last summer as opposed to where he left off last December - 12 catches on 33 targets in 15 games of action as a rookie.
While most of his reps on Monday came with backup quarterback Josh Dobbs under center, Polk did get a chance to play with fellow second-year player Drake Maye.
And when he did, he delivered.
In the final 11-on-11 period of the day, the offense ran a series of plays from the 6-yard line. On Maye’s final snap, Polk beat another second-year player in Marcellus Dial, catching a red zone touchdown and briefly reminding fans of the excitement they once had for the young wideout.
This wasn’t the only time Polk got the crowd going on Monday. Earlier in practice, Polk came down with a one-handed grab in the corner of the end zone during a one-on-one drill with his position group. It was a bad throw by wide receivers coach Todd Downing, yet Polk was still able to show great body control to come down with the ball.
These are, of course, baby steps for Polk.
We’ve seen camp highlights from this guy before. Now it’s time to make these types of plays on Sundays - if he is, indeed, a part of the final 53-man roster.
Other observations from day five of training camp:
- Like Meghan Ottolini detailed in her column for WEEI.com on Monday, All-Pro cornerback Christian Gonzalez exited practice with an apparent leg injury. The 23-year-old limped off the field on his own, and there’s been no further reporting or statements on the matter at the time of publication.
To go along with Gonzalez’s injury, fellow corner Carlton Davis III was once again absent from practice. And while head coach Mike Vrabel categorized Davis missing practice last week as maintenance, his participation moving forward becomes that much more important if Gonzalez is injured enough to miss real time.
I highly encourage you to give Mego’s column on this situation a read:
- I found myself yadda-yadda-ing away the struggles we saw from the offensive line during the first few days of camp. No one was wearing pads, thus no real contact could be made on either side of the line of scrimmage. “Would-be” sacks in those scenarios mean very little to me.
So with the pads on the big boys on Monday, I was locked in on the likes of rookie left tackle Will Campbell and big-money D-tackle Milton Williams.
Campbell had a great day during team drills, where the bulk of the reps for the offense were spent working on the running game. Some of his best stuff on the day were blocks he made bearing down on Williams, as you were able to finally get a real glimpse into the power and athleticism the No. 4 overall pick has inside of him.
Williams, on the other hand, struggled to make plays in run defense - a phase of the game he rarely took part in for Philadelphia last season. With Williams set to see a major increase in defensive snaps in 2025, this is an area of his game he’ll need to make big improvements in, especially with the uncertainty surrounding fellow defensive tackle Christian Barmore.
WEEI’s Jon Lyons did a great job breaking down both players’ day five performances on Monday’s edition of “6 Rings and Football Things.” Check it out:
Gates for the public on day six of training camp open at 9:15 a.m. ET on Tuesday. Admission is free.
Jones and Keefe broadcast live overlooking the practice fields at Gillette all throughout training camp. The Home of Patriots Monday and Friday has training camp covered on the WEEI Network and WEEI.com.