Patriots notes, quotes, and anecdotes: What to make of Tyquan Thornton’s strong start to training camp

Good morning, happy Sunday, and welcome back into another edition of ‘Patriots notes, quotes, & anecdotes’. We’re back with another column hitting on all of the happenings surrounding the New England Patriots.

Here we go:

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— Is Tyquan Thornton’s strong start enough?

Another year, another strong start to training camp for Patriots wide receiver Tyquan Thornton.

Now into his third NFL season, the 2022 second-round pick out of Baylor is again showing off his skills this summer — but it has both media and fans alike worried about what’s to come.

This is now the third straight season that Thornton has shined in either OTAs, minicamp, or training camp, and the book on him has continuously been that he can’t stay healthy once the pads come on. The 23-year-old has yet to make a 53-man roster to start a season, beginning both of his previous campaigns on injured reserve. He told the media last week that he’s up to 192 pounds after putting on weight this offseason, and said that it’s allowed him to be more competitive against physicality from the defense.

And then, right on cue, Thornton was a non-participant at Saturday’s practice.

According to the Boston Herald’s Andrew Callahan, his absence, “is not considered to be long-term or serious,” and added that “Thornton has a bad injury history, specifically in training camp and the preseason; something the team has been mindful of.”

Personally? I’m choosing to be an optimist and taking the cheese — while also preparing to be disappointed.

— Matthew Judon, Patriots apparently “moving forward.”

The Matthew Judon contract saga seemingly came to an end this week — at least I think.

After showing up to Monday’s practice without pads on, not stretching, leaving practice after instruction from Jerod Mayo, returning for an animated argument with Eliot Wolf and Matt Groh, and then leaving again, the 31-year-old missed Tuesday’s practice. He then 180’d and returned as a full participant on Thursday and Friday.

“We’re moving past the Judon thing,” Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo told reporters on Saturday. “We’re both in a good place. He’s in a good place, I think the team’s in a good place, and we’re pushing forward.”

So what exactly does this mean? It’s hard to say. But if Judon’s actions of late mean anything, he’s either a) confident that a deal will get done or b) knows he doesn’t have much leverage and is actually moving forward. The linebacker was a full participant in Saturday’s fully-padded 2+ hour practice.

Judon, who’s entering the final year of his contract, is certainly deserving of a pay bump. He currently has no guaranteed money, and will make just over $7 million in 2024 — putting him well behind where he stands among edge rushers in the NFL.

How this one ultimately plays out remains a mystery. Trade? Extension? Restructure? Nothing? We’ll have to wait and see.

— Roster moves

Catching up on some roster moves here, the Patriots have made the following transactions since the start of training camp:

• Released LB Jontrey Hunter
• Released CB Kaleb Ford-Dement
• Signed DT Josiah Bronson
• Signed DT Mike Purcell
• Signed OT Kellen Diesch
• Signed S A.J. Thomas
• Released RB Deshaun Fenwick
• Released OT Tyrone Wheatley Jr.

The roster currently sits at 90 players.

–Julian Edelman on Jakobi Meyers, rookie wide receivers.

With the Patriots drafting two wide receivers in the second and fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft, and seemingly relying on them to contribute early on in training camp, former New England pass catcher and Super Bowl LII MVP Julian Edelman was asked about knowing when a guy can play in the league:

“I remember watching Jakobi Meyers,” he told FS1’s The Herd this week. “And I remember he was an undrafted guy, former quarterback, and I saw the way he released [off] the ball, how strong his hands were, how he — he never made the same mistake twice, like early. And when I saw that, and he was able to create separation and he still didn’t really know how to run routes. You can see something right away.”

“You get to really see it when the pads come on,” he continued. “First day of pads, everyone’s hopped up, everyone’s all, ‘war day!’… That’s when you really get to see if you have an offseason, training camp All-American of you have a guy that’s ready for real football.”

— Steve Belichick isn’t worried about coaching without his dad.

“I’ve never looked at it like that, like I’m living under a shadow,” Steve Belichick told The Athletic’s Jeff Howe this week in Seattle. “I’m always going to be myself. He’s my dad. He plays an enormous role in my life — in my profession, in everything I do in life as a father, as a husband, all that stuff. I’ve never really seen it like that. I’m not like, ‘Oh, I don’t have to live in his shadow anymore.’ I’ve never thought of it like that, whether it was now or a year ago or five years ago. That hasn’t really crossed my mind.”

“He’s got a little more time on his hands,” Belichick continued, speaking of his father and the help he gives him as a coach. “…I guess you can say he’s helping me less just because I’m not in the building every day and we’re across the country from each other, but I talk to him very frequently, just like I think I would if he wasn’t a football coach.”

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Thanks for reading! We’ll talk to ya next week.

Follow Mike on Twitter @mikekadlick for the latest up-to-date Patriots and Boston sports news!