Getty DB Jalen Mills, unhappy Patriot
Jalen Mills is unhappy. Mills is an eight-year NFL veteran and spent the last three with the Patriots. He was a starter for all 26 games he played in 2021 and 2022.
This year, though, coaches bumped him down the depth chart and he lost his starting role. Even with rookie corner Christian Gonzalez out last week, the Patriots did not start Mills, but Adrian Phillips got his first starting call of the year.
That’s been the story of Mills’ season. Despite playing well enough when he is on the field, Mills has seen his role in New England reduced, from playing 90% of the team’s snaps in his first season with the Patriots to 75% last year and just 24% this year.
In the loss to the Saints in Week 5, when beat reporter Mike Reiss of ESPN tweeted out the player snap counts, Mills was listed with just 10, among the least active games of his career. He replied, revealing his apparent displeasure. “10 snaps,” he wrote, with a sad sweating emoji. “Damn.”
Jalen Mills Unhappy Just Before Trade Deadline
Interesting that Mills is unhappy with his playing time, with less than three weeks to go before the NFL trade deadline. After the season-ending injury to Gonzalez this season, the Patriots sprang into action to add former Pats defensive back J.C. Jackson to the mix, swapping a future sixth-rounder for a seventh-rounder in the process.
That was before the Patriots’ 34-0 destruction at the hands of New Orleans in Week 5, though. Should New England, sitting at 1-4, continue to slide this week against the Raiders or beyond, it might behoove the Pats to do more selling than buying. And if they’re not going to use Mills, they should at least get something in return for him.
This week, Bleacher Report suggested moving him to Green Bay.
“Veteran defensive back Jalen Mills would be a great trade candidate considering he’s only a depth option but performing well when he does see the field,” B/R wrote this week.
“Mills has contributed nine tackles while earning a respectable 75.6 PFF grade this year. He could net the (Patriots) one of the many Day 3 draft picks it will need to overhaul the roster. The Green Bay Packers have some glaring holes within their secondary, and a versatile safety like Mills could help plug a gap for that up-and-coming club.”
Lawrence Guy Has Advice for Jalen Mills
On Thursday, defensive tackle Lawrence Guy was asked about Mills’ situation and his unhappiness with his role, or lack thereof. The veteran said he empathizes because he went through something similar four years ago, and praised Mills’ professionalism despite not playing much.
“I’ve been there. 2019,” Guy told reporters on Thursday, via SB Nation. “Miami game, I had 14 snaps, I think. The next game, I had like nine snaps. Next game, I had 10 snaps. I’ve been in that frustration part. … He works hard works hard every single day. He understands. You ask questions in a meeting, he knows that meeting. He knows the answer. He’s like, ‘Boom’ — he can spit it out. It’s just how the dice are rolled right now.”