Trent Brown was one of nine players absent from Day 1 of the New England Patriots' minicamp on Monday.
The veteran offensive lineman reportedly didn't make the trip to Foxboro because a severe hail storm in North Texas caused his flight to be canceled. Even with that excuse, there is a strong chance Brown will face discipline for missing the mandatory session.
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Our Phil Perry weighed in on the situation during Monday's Arbella Early Edition.
"Unless there has been a change in philosophy, there will be some ramifications for this," Perry said of Brown's absence. "This is a mandatory minicamp. You are required to show up or else you're going to be fined. So I would imagine there's at least some kind of fine here.
"We've also seen players get here late and then be punished on top of that. ... I don't know if they'll do that with Trent Brown, who we think will have a very important role with the Patriots this year, but he's just not the most reliable guy. That's a very polite way of putting it. He was actually near the top of the league in terms of penalties last year, the weight is always a question, and now he doesn't show up for one of the three days of minicamp that they have."
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Brown, 30, is the Patriots' lone returning starter at the tackle position. He is set to be an integral part of a new-look offensive line following what was a rocky 2022 season for the unit.
Tom E. Curran joined Perry in stating that while Brown is an important piece for New England this year, his lack of dependability remains a concern.
"It's difficult when you have a guy who you're gonna rely on and who can play at such an extremely high level," Curran said on Early Edition. "I mean, he was paid as the highest-paid offensive lineman in league history a couple years ago by the Raiders, and the Raiders got sold a bill of goods because he didn't play like that. He was taken as a seventh-round pick by the 49ers, was a washout there, the Patriots traded for him, he was terrific here. So it's on, off, on, off.
"And it's difficult when you have a situation where your flight is canceled because of a hail storm. I'm sure it wasn't a 72-hour hail storm. Maybe leave Saturday morning for the Monday stuff instead of the last flight of the day that would get you out. ... It's not what you're looking for from a player who's a key player and is less than dependable."
Other notable absences from minicamp on Monday included defensive tackle Lawrence Guy, wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, and running back James Robinson. Guy's absence reportedly is contract-related while Smith-Schuster's was due to a lingering knee injury. Later in the evening, the team announced it had waived Robinson.
The Patriots will have two more mandatory minicamp sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday before their summer break.
