Time isn’t on the New England Patriots’ side when it comes to Stephon Gilmore.
The superstar cornerback is entering the fifth year of his contract with the team and his status has been up in the air all offseason. Bill Belichick continues to tell reporters that Gilmore, who’s currently on the PUP list, is inactive due to his quad injury that put him out for the 2020 season — while ignoring the fact that Gilmore won’t play for the $7 million he’s set to make.
The Patriots have to make a decision to remove him from the PUP list by Tuesday or Gilmore will be forced to sit out for the first six weeks of the season. If he’s added to the 53-man roster, then Gilmore can suit up during the Patriots’ Week 1 matchup against the Miami Dolphins.
Belichick appeared on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” on Monday morning and offered some insight on the situation.
“We’ll just keep working through it every day,” he said. “He’s been [at the stadium] the last two days and has continued to work hard on his rehab. We’ll check in today and see how that’s going — see what kind of progress we’re making and then go from there. I’d say it’s really pretty much like everything — follow it day-by-day and see how it goes. And based on the results of yesterday and how things are today and the general plan that we have, it’s either follow that plan or modify that plan a little bit based on the most recent information.”
He was later asked again about removing Gilmore from the PUP list and he continued with another vague response.
“Again, we have a lot of roster decisions to make and some of those are intertwined and some of the rules have changed from what they have been in the past,” he said. “So, what we’ve done in a different year at a different point in time may or may not be relevant now. We’ll just take a look at everything and continue to evaluate Steph day-by-day, as we’ve done, and as he’s done, and work to get better. We have several players in a similar situation and we’ll get the most up-to-date information we can and try and make the best decision we can for our football team.”
The Patriots are looking extremely slim at cornerback behind J.C. Jackson, and Gilmore’s presence would be a much-needed boost for a team that’s strong in nearly every other position group. Jonathan Jones, Joejuan Williams, Jalen Mills and newcomer Shaun Wade will have to pick up the slack.
As it stands, it’s very difficult to distinguish whether the injury or contract situation is the real determining factor of Gilmore’s status.
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