The New England Patriots are attending Colin Kaepernick’s workout after all.
After it was initially reported that Patriots head coach Bill Belichick hadn’t shown much interest in attending Kaepernick’s workout on Saturday, it’s now being reported by Jim McBride of the Boston Globe that the Patriots will send a representative to attend the former NFL quarterback’s workout.
According to a league source, the #Patriots will have a representative at QB Colin Kaepernick’s workout Saturday in Atlanta.
Why The Patriots Are Interested in Kaepernick
The Patriots are one of numerous teams to express interest in the 32-year-old quarterback. While it’s not surprising to see so many teams interested in a quarterback who once started in a Super Bowl, most of the teams are in dire need of a quarterback — New England isn’t one of those teams.
Tom Brady is entrenched as the starter and the team currently has rookie quarterback Jarrett Stidham as the backup and veteran quarterback Cody Kessler as insurance. While one shouldn’t make too much of the Patriots sending a rep to watch Kaepernick, it does signal that there is a possibility they sign the veteran quarterback.
Why else would they send a representative out there?
The Patriots could always release Kessler — they’ve done so earlier this season before re-signing him — if they wanted to bring Kaepernick in.
During his six seasons in the NFL, Kaepernick served as the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, leading them to a Super Bowl appearance at the conclusion of the 2012 season and an NFC Championship Game appearance at the end of the 2013 season.
In 58 starts, Kaepernick threw 72 touchdowns and went 28-30 as a starting quarterback.
Bringing in Kaepernick would obviously open up the Patriots’ offense considering his ability as a dual-threat quarterback — in other words, New England could run option and wildcat-type formations. Remember when they experimented with Tim Tebow?
As far as the details of Kaepernick’s workout on Saturday are concerned, there isn’t much known. In fact, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports reports that no receivers have even been assigned to catch balls from the former quarterback during the workout. Furthermore, none of the throwing drills are even known at this point.
#NFL will likely ask longtime veteran coach Joe Philbin to handle the drills in the Colin Kaepernick workout on Saturday. Today is an important day to make this happen. Late Wednesday night, no throwing program had been scripted and no players had been locked down to catch balls.
Further complicating matters if the whole purpose of this workout. Kaepernick hasn’t played in the NFL since 2016 and he even sued the league for being blackballed due to his national anthem protests.
Why The NFL Has Scheduled a Colin Kaepernick Workout
It would appear the league is doing a damage control type of situation where they’re trying to crush the notion that Kaepernick isn’t being given a fair chance at being signed, via Adam Schefter of ESPN.
Several clubs had inquired about Kaepernick’s current football readiness. Sources told ESPN’s Dan Graziano that the workout was also set up in response to an Oct. 10 statement by Kaepernick’s representatives, who said they had received “little to no response” from the 32 NFL teams. Kaepernick has been out of the NFL since 2016, the year he began protesting police brutality and racial injustice by kneeling during the pregame national anthem.
In the memo, the league said: “Earlier this year, we discussed some possible steps with his representatives and they recently emphasized his level of preparation and that he is ready to work out for clubs and be interviewed by them. We have therefore arranged this opportunity for him to work out, and for all clubs to have the opportunity to evaluate his current readiness and level of interest in resuming his NFL career.”
If the Patriots end up signing Kaepernick, there is little doubt it would become one of the top sports stories of the year.
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Patriots Change Course on Attending Colin Kaepernick’s Workout: Report