A Tuesday morning in December 2024, when Ja’Lynn Polk came into the Patriots’ locker room, he noticed a change that left him worried. His locker, which he had had since training camp, was no longer there. “I was like, ‘Shoot, they got rid of me already?’” recalled Polk. Luckily, there was just a hole in the channel from the New England management, and they forgot to tell him. They shifted his locker closer to the receivers. “I was thinking I was gone for a second,” Polk laughed, while remembering the incident. He can laugh no longer, however.
There is a real possibility that Ja’Lynn Polk will not see any game time this season. The Patriots picked the 2024 draftee in the second round (37th overall), after selecting Maye. In a draft with a deep WR class with names such as Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers, and Rome Odunze, appearing in it. Scouts still considered Polk a pro-ready wideout. In fact, with the Washington Huskies, he played a crucial role in the run to the national title game. Being a deep threat in Michael Penix Jr’s offense. He was so effective that Washington OC Ryan Grubb described him as the “most underrated player on this team.” However, his performance at the collegiate level couldn’t translate to the Big League.
In the league, Polk had a rookie season that did not meet expectations. One fan even said, “Polk had quite genuinely an all-time stinker of a rookie season. Like viciously bad.” This year, nobody is expecting anything out of him. They’ve written him off. Ja’Lynn Polk took to Instagram to respond to all the doubters. In a recent story, where Polk did his reps, with YoungBoy Never Broke Again blasting the speakers, he wrote “Count me out.” A tired but goading challenge to the critics who say he’s going to get cut. No more talking; he’s now going to show what he’s made of. However, it’ll be a difficult battle gaining Mike Vrabel’s trust after the way he played last season.
Ja’Lynn Polk played in 15 games and had just 12 catches for 87 yards and 2 TDs, with an average of 7.3 yards per game. However, he did show glimpses of his high football IQ, polished routes, and contested catching. Especially at the start of the season. Curiously, this is the period before Maye started. We are not faulting Maye here, who has undoubtedly shown his capability of being a franchise QB. It’s instead the lack of chemistry between the two. To sum up, they just haven’t spent enough time to understand each other’s playbook. And, Polk will be hoping to remedy that in the coming season, but it all depends on whether Vrabel keeps him on the roster.
A crowded Wide Receiver corps
Mike Vrabel, who made a return to the Patriots’ franchise as a coach, now has a problem with the weapons in his hands. Or more specifically, the abundance of it. The Patriots have the weapons, but they just haven’t figured out who will carry out the mission. With Vrabel rightly understanding that the Patriots required new wide receivers ahead of the season, he brought in three through the 2025 NFL Draft and free agency: Stefon Diggs, Mack Hollins, and third-round pick Kyle Williams. That’s in addition to the six they already have. Now with 9 wide receivers, there will be cuts. The question is who?
According to Tyler Sullivan from CBS, he expects the Patriots to hold six roster spots for wideouts. He believes Diggs, Hollins, and Williams to be a certainty on the roster. And that leaves six other receivers for the remaining three positions: Baker, Polk, Chism, DeMario Douglas, Kendrick Bourne, and Kayshon Boutte. Since Douglas and Boutte finished the season second and third, respectively, the coaches will probably keep them on the roster as well. That leaves us with Baker, Polk, Chism, and Bourne.
Chism is somewhat of a wildcard. An undrafted rookie out of Eastern Washington. If he “carries his strong showing during OTAs and minicamp to training camp, he could crash the party and take another,” Sullivan added. Coaches could favor Chism over Polk, Baker, and Bourne. Since some teams choose to have seven wideouts in their squad, Vrabel might even opt to do that. If he does, Bourne could sideline Polk, having made more receptions last year in fewer games. So in the end, it comes down to Baker and Polk.
Baker, of course, had a worse season than Ja’Lynn Polk. He played in 11 games and had just one catch for four yards. But that wouldn’t matter, as Sullivan believes both of them will get cut. With the Patriots choosing their best 6 or 7 wide receivers for the season, Vrabel will need to understand the hierarchy in their WRs corps. Who gets game time and won’t will all depend on how he sets it.
The post Ja’Lynn Polk Gives Up In Cryptic Message With Mike Vrabel Reportedly Cutting Patriots WR appeared first on EssentiallySports.