FOXBOROUGH - The Patriots have had seven practices since training camp opened last Thursday, and defensive end Richard Seymour has missed four of them. Tight end Benjamin Watson has been absent for two.
The club opened camp with 12 players on the physically unable to perform list, easily the highest total among NFL teams who reported prior to yesterday. The Ravens, who had seven players on the PUP list on the first day of their camp, were next in line.
A cause for concern?
Not really, although it does highlight one of the early themes out of camp: The managing of certain players, and the idea that pushing them too hard now might hinder them over the course of an arduous 16-game regular season.
Seymour is a prime example.
The five-time Pro Bowler has been hampered by lingering left knee pain the last two seasons. He now feels fully healthy, yet he's still been held out of practices. Seymour explained that the decision, made by Bill Belichick and the team's training staff, is based on easing him back into action with a smart, conservative approach.
The same can be said for Watson, who underwent ankle surgery in the offseason. Even 36-year-old Marcus Pollard, a tight end in his 14th season, has been given practices off. Ditto for Matt Light, now in his eighth season.
When it comes to determining who's in and who's out at practice, Belichick is tapping into the management side of his job. Making such decisions, which are different from the football Xs and Os with which he is often associated with, can be challenging.
"It's hard, but I think it's very important," Belichick said yesterday after the first of two practices, in which both Seymour and Watson did not participate. "You really have to stay on top of it, because it can get away from you in a hurry. If you're just too locked in on one thing, that's one of those things that can sort of slip through the cracks."
Belichick has said the primary purpose of training camp is two-fold - to prepare for the regular-season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs Sept. 7, and for the rest of the regular season.
So the decisions he makes, which usually come after receiving input from assistant coaches and the training staff, have those factors in mind. And of course, some of the decisions already are made for him because certain injured players simply aren't yet ready to return.
In a sense, it's almost like a game of dominoes. If he knocks over one piece - such as sitting Watson out of a practice - he must consider how that will affect the other tight ends.
"You just want to do what's most beneficial for everybody, and in doing that, somebody is going to get shortchanged a bit, one way or the other," he said.
