Team news: New England Patriots | Page 12

With WRs Tyquan Thornton and Kendrick Bourne either hurt or sliding down the depth chart, Nelson Agholor has ascended throughout the summer.

Agholor's first season with New England ended with him accruing under 500 yards but he has built chemistry with quarterback Mac Jones while other pieces of the depth chart have moved backwards. Graff concludes his blurb claiming that Agholor could end up as Jones' number one receiver.

Patriots WR Kendrick Bourne traveled with the Patriots to Las Vegas for their joint practices and preseason game this week against the Raiders.

It was a weird week for Bourne, who was removed from practice due to an apparent uniform issue on Tuesday and then ejected for fighting on Wednesday. He then didn’t play Friday against the Panthers, helping to lead to some trade speculation. But he will be in Vegas with the team; certainly needed now that the Patriots don’t have Tyquan Thornton, so they are in need of depth at receiver.

The suspension also includes a $5 million donation to charity. DeShaun Watson is scheduled to return to action in Week 13 against the Houston Texans.

Related Players: Jacoby Brissett, Amari Cooper, David Njoku, Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt

Watson remains borderline-undraftable in all but the deepest redraft leagues, and the entire skill position group should receive a downgrade with Jacoby Brissett in as quarterback. It's very possible that the team leans more run-heavy, which would benefit Nick Chubb, but if the offense as a whole is less efficient, that would presumably level out over the course of three-quarters of the season.

Smith underwent surgery on his thumb earlier this offseason, but head coach Kevin O'Connell told reporters today that he may avoid missing any time during the regular season.

Related Players: Johnny Mundt, K.J. Osborn

This comes as a relief for fantasy players who miss out on the top-tier of tight ends. All we need is one less option at our disposal in the double-digit rounds. If Irv Smith Jr. is healthy from the start, he makes for an interesting post-hype breakout candidate after he was forced to miss most of the 2021 season due to a torn meniscus. Former Viking Tyler Conklin was able to turn in a TE16 finish on what we presume was a much more run-heavy offense than what the 2022 Minnesota Vikings offense will look like.

At pretty much every step along the way, Tyquan Thornton’s stock has continued to rise. That trend continued on Tuesday.

Related players: Jakobi Meyers, DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne, Nelson Agholor

The story said this week is a big chance for Thornton to prove he can reach the next stage in his development. It went on to say Thornton started practice off with a bang. He won both one-on-one reps, with the second ending with a diving catch in the end zone. In team drills, Thornton continued to pop. He repeatedly got open for Mac Jones, including one rep where he beat 2020 first-round pick C.J. Henderson. Thornton seems buried down the depth chart, though. There have been rumors the team will move Agholor which could bump up Thornton, but for now he should be considered a deeper league stash and a player to keep an eye on.

Ty Montgomery looks like the early favorite to take over James White's passing-down role, but that might just be the jumping off point with the veteran. His diverse skillset could open up even more options for the coaching staff to experiment with.

Related players: Damien Harris, Rhamondre Stevenson

If you've been following the news here today, this isn't a surprise. Monty has been getting the snaps in the two-minute drills and was also playing a big part in the offense during that time. Montgomery has played in the NFL as a receiver and a running back so the fit seems to be a pretty good one. Stevenson had also been getting some time in the James White role, so those snaps going to Montgomery will put a bit of a damper on Stevenson's fantasy value. This could be one of those typical Patriot running back situations where no one really knows how it will pan out week-to-week.

One other note: when the Patriots starting offense went into hurry up mode, Ty Montgomery was once again the RB on the field.

Related players: Damien Harris, Rhamondre Stevenson

Stevenson was also getting time in the "James White role" we reported today, but since then the team seems like it's giving Montgomery his chance to take the role. The tweet said Monty was left open down the right sideline for a big gain and also caught a check down on the drive. Lazar added his versatility to line up at WR is an added bonus. Keep in mind, Montgomery used to play WR before making the switch to RB. He was really last fantasy relevant back in 2016 and 2017 with the Packers but the Patriots seem to be able to revive players and Montgomery is a nature fit for the passing down and hurry-up role.

OC Scott Turner on RB Antonio Gibson's fumbles: "You can't waste a possession; if you fumble the ball that's a waste of a possession. The first job is to protect the ball. It's something that has to be fixed."

Related players: J.D. McKissic, Brian Robinson

Gibson had a big fumble in preseason Week 1. Reports Tuesday said Gibson was working with the punt return and third teams - seemingly as punishment. Other reports said Gibson eventually returned to first team work. However the rookie Robinson has had a good camp, and with McKissic back in the fold, there is some pressure for Gibson to show some improvement sooner than later this summer.

Patriots starters finished practice with some 2 minute work.

Rhamondre Stevenson was repping in the James White role.

Related players: Damien Harris, Ty Montgomery Pierre Strong Jr., J.J. Taylor, Kevin Harris

Stevenson has been in the role from the start of camp, according to reports. One can concluded it's looking more and more like he could split the work with Harris, much like he did last year, but also earn the targets. That would make him a better fantasy value than Harris.

The same hip injury that recently forced Ryan Fitzpatrick into retirement has sadly done the same to pass-catching specialist James White.

Related Players: Rhamondre Stevenson, Ty Montgomery, Pierre Strong

One of —if not the— best pass-catching running backs of his generation, White will hang up the cleats at 30 years old. In his steed, it clears the way for Stevenson to continue working on third downs, while dark horse veteran Ty Montgomery could find himself with a bigger workload than we would have imagined when he signed with the team.