The Patriots are opening training camp with more than a few loose ends, and Gabe Jacas is one of the biggest.
Christian Gonzalez showed up at the team facility on Friday and is expected to take part in camp in some form, though some around the league think a hold-in could still be in play while negotiations continue. Jacas, though, was nowhere to be found, and that immediately pushed his situation to the front of the conversation.
Mike Vrabel addressed it Friday morning, and while he did offer a bit of reassurance, he stopped well short of giving anyone a real timetable.
“Hopefully, we’ll get him in here sooner rather than later. I’m not going to put a timeline on it or a time frame. I’ve spoken to Gabe personally and am excited to get him in when he’s under contract.
There are contractual issues that come up and a lot of things that occur throughout those rookie contracts. But every contract is unique, every contract is different, and it’ll get resolved. I’m positive that it will.”
That’s about as encouraging as it is vague. Vrabel made it clear he wants Jacas in the building, but the rookie pass rusher has already missed the last few months at the facility, and the team still doesn’t have a clear answer on when that changes.
That matters because the Patriots need edge depth, and they drafted Jacas for exactly that reason. With Harold Landry dealing with injury, the path was there for Jacas to step in and make an immediate impression if he had been around from the start of camp.
Instead, he’s still on the outside looking in, and Foxboro doesn’t have a date circled for his arrival. Vrabel sounds confident the situation will get sorted out, but for now, the Patriots are heading into camp without one of their rookies in place and without much clarity on how long that will last.
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