Summer vacation is starting a day early for the Patriots.
The team announced Wednesday that Thursday’s final practice of minicamp and the offseason program has been cancelled, which means that the team will be off until they start training camp on a date that’s yet to be announced.
The final practice of the offseason featured some extra running for the team’s offense as coach Bill Belichick sent the unit’s players and coaches to run a penalty lap when they failed to keep up the pace that Belichick wanted them playing at during the session.
“It was a miscommunication and you have to move fast because that’s our offense -- fast-paced,” wide receiver Brian Tyms said, via ESPN.com. “You’re trying to pick up the pace so the defense can’t see what we’re doing. We didn’t move fast enough and we have to be able to communicate in even the harshest of situations; when everybody is dead-tired and has nothing left, you still have to be able to communicate with each other and execute.”
With the Patriots winning the Super Bowl, it’s been a shorter offseason than most of their peers have enjoyed. Thanks to Deflategate, it’s also been a stranger one and the Patriots should return to work with a final answer on whether Tom Brady or Jimmy Garoppolo will be starting at quarterback when they begin their title defense.