The Patriots will hold their first practice of training camp on Saturday and it looks like second-round pick Gabe Jacas will not be part of it.
Jacas remains unsigned — he is the only unsigned second-round pick in the league — and head coach Mike Vrabel confirmed on Friday that the linebacker did not report to camp. Jacas dealt with a number of injuries this offseason and did not take part in any part of the team’s offseason program.
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Vrabel said he’s “positive” that Jacas’s contract will get done at some point, but declined to put a timeline on the process. He also said he doesn’t know if the rookie is healthy enough to take part in practice.
“I can only go by what [Jacas] says. And so when he gets here, we’ll evaluate that,” Vrabel said, via Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald. “Of course, we’ll be as smart as we can just to see because we haven’t seen him with us. But I would say that — I’d use the words cautiously optimistic. But again, those conversations have been great, and excited to see where he’s at.”
It’s not the ideal way for Jacas to start his NFL career, but getting healthy and on the field as soon as possible would make it easier to turn the rocky beginning around.
