Stop us if you’ve heard this one before. The New England Patriots are being disciplined for violating one of the NFL’s many rules. But their latest infraction pales in comparison to some of their previous mistakes.
This time, Bill Belichick and Co. are under fire for, as ESPN’s Mike Reiss described as, “a violation of offseason rules.” There has been no follow-up report on what the Patriots did wrong, but this is presumably tied to something related to one of their past practices/gatherings this offseason.
Luckily for the Patriots, the penalty isn’t very substantial. Their only loss? The NFL has docked the Patriots two days of their voluntary organized team activities. It impacts tomorrow’s practice being called off and another next week as well.
That’s it. No taking away draft picks, fines, suspensions, or anything else that will have a large impact on the franchise going forward. Coach Belichick may have a strong distaste for distractions, but that’s all this amounts to.
Will their young players, such as Mac Jones and several others, lose out on receiving valuable reps in camp? Sure, but things could always be worse for a team trying to scratch and claw their way back to the postseason in 2023.
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