FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The top pick of the New England Patriots in the 2018 draft returned to practice on Wednesday, and the team is hopeful his progression continues.
Isaiah Wynn, the second-year offensive tackle, played in all the offensive snaps in New England’s Week 1 win over Pittsburgh but injured his toe early in Week 2 against Miami and went on the injured list.
He missed all of 2018 with a torn Achillies.
Each team is allowed to reactivate two players who have been on injured reserve during the season. A player is eligible to return to practice after six weeks and can be activated after sitting out eight games. Wynn won’t be eligible to play until Nov. 24 against Dallas.
The Patriots had already brought back rookie wide receiver N’Keal Harry, so Wynn’s return to practice means other players on injured reserve – including fullback James Develin, kicker Stephen Gostkowski, receiver Josh Gordon and offensive lineman Yodny Cajuste – are no longer eligible to return to the Patriots this season.
OFFENSIVE LINE coach Dante Scarnecchia isn’t happy with the performance of his group this season. It might be easy to blame injuries to starting center David Andrews and left tackle Isaiah Wynn, and last weekend, they were without starting right guard Shaq Mason.
It’d be easy to blame bad luck, too. Instead, Scarnecchia blames himself. This week, the veteran coach put the bulk of the Patriots’ pass protection and run game problems on his own shoulders.
“I think it’s everything. I think we have to do things better. I have to coach better,” Scarnecchia said. “I have to coach a lot better than I’ve been coaching. Let’s start with that. We have to do things a lot better than what we’re doing.”
WHILE THE Patriots have faced a handful of mobile quarterbacks this season, Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson represents a running challenge much tougher than anything they have encountered.
“He’s very fast and he’s definitely a hard guy to handle. That’s definitely a problem,” Coach Bill Belichick said. “A lot of times, he just outruns people. ”
Jackson’s 82.3 rushing yards per game leads the Ravens and is ninth in the NFL. On top of that, he’s 163 for 215 passing and averages 235.7 passing yards per game. He’s thrown 11 touchdown passes and has been intercepted five times.
“It’ll be a big challenge for us. Yeah, he can do it all. He can run, he can throw, can throw on the run, can extend plays. He’s tough,” said Belichick, who said the skills are hard to simulate in practice. “There’s not another quarterback in the league like this. How do you get one?”
INCLUDING NEW kicker Nick Folk, the Patriots had perfect attendance for the portion of practice open to the media.
Folk, whose signing became official Wednesday, took the No. 2 jersey worn by Mike Nugent, who the Patriots released Tuesday. Tight ends Ryan Izzo (concussion) and Matt LaCosse (knee) were also back, giving the Patriots three available tight ends for the first time since Ben Watson was re-signed.
Copy the Story LinkComments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
