FOXBORO — Rhamondre Stevenson does not know why he’s spent three of the Patriots’ first seven practices of training camp away from the majority of his teammates working on a side field conditioning.
Following a series of questions about his limited workload a week into practice, Stevenson paused.
“Honestly, you’ve got to ask Bill Belichick,” he said. “I don’t know why I’m not practicing.”
Sources have told the Herald that the Patriots are simply managing Stevenson’s workload early in camp. Stevenson was banged up by the end of the 2022 season and registered the sixth-most touches by a Patriots player in a single season since Bill Belichick took over as head coach in 2000. Entering his third NFL season, Stevenson will be needed to carry the load again in 2023. So, the Patriots limited his workload on Day 2 of camp last Thursday and in their first two padded practices of the summer Monday and Wednesday.
“I’m itching to get in there, especially when we have pads on,” Stevenson said Wednesday after practice. “When we don’t have pads on, not really itching as much. Since the pads are on and stuff, yeah, I’ve been itching to get in there. But just stay the course.”
Stevenson came to practice Wednesday donninig full pads and his practice uniform. After warmups, he departed to the side field with two other Patriots starters, offensive tackle Trent Brown and outside linebacker Matthew Judon, plus players who have suffered injuries early in training camp. Stevenson re-emerged after competitive drills ended, spending time with the first team during a three-quarter speed hurry-up drill to conclude practice.
“All these guys, all the coaches, the staff have been in the league for way longer than I have,” Stevenson said. “So, whatever they say, I just take it and do what they say and just take it with a grain of salt.”
The running back didn’t believe his health to finish off the 2022 season, when he carried the ball 210 times for 1,040 yards with five touchdowns and caught 69 passes for 421 yards with another score as the Patriots’ bell-cow back, is related to his limitations in practice.
“Just like anybody else — it’s 17, 18 games — so just like anybody else, I’m going to be dinged up by the end of the season,” Stevenson said. “So, I don’t really think that was a big part of it. But just trying to decrease my workload.”
That’s when he paused and told reporters to ask his head coach. The answer was met with laughter.
“I don’t really ask too many questions when something is told to me,” Stevenson said. “I just try the best I can to do what they say. It wasn’t really a conversation about it.”
The third-year running back, who can’t sign a contract extension until after this season, was asked if he takes it as a compliment that the Patriots are limiting his snaps in practice, that it’s a sign that he’s one of the team’s most important players, and they don’t want him to get banged up.
“Yeah, I don’t really think about it that way, but once you said it, I mean, kind of, yeah,” Stevenson said.
Stevenson isn’t the only Patriots running back in an already shallow room working on a side field during practice. Ty Montgomery was injured during the first week of training camp and has been spotted working on conditioning Tuesday and Wednesday. The Patriots released running back James Robinson, who they signed in free agency, in June and never replaced him on the roster. They’ve brought three veteran running backs to Gillette Stadium for visits and workouts but have yet to sign Leonard Fournette, Pierre Strong or Ezekiel Elliott.
That’s left 2022 draft picks Kevin Harris and Pierre Strong and long-time practice squad running back J.J. Taylor to absorb a lot of blows in practice.
“I’m confident in our room right now,” Stevenson said. “If somebody else comes in, we’re just going to see if they can work as hard as us. And just keep the train moving.”
The Patriots have seen significant improvement from Harris since last season. He’s been the lead back while Stevenson has been out of practice and has looked surprisingly comfortable in the passing game. Strong and Taylor are also receiving early- and passing-down work in the Patriots’ offense.
The team could certainly use a veteran running back just to serve as insurance in case something happens to Stevenson. Beyond that, they could simply use another body in the room to take more hits during fully-padded practices to limit the work Harris, Strong and Taylor are receiving. The Patriots have gone from having six available backs during the spring to just three during fully-padded practices.