Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis were both sidelined with injuries on Tuesday.
When the New England Patriots’ top defense took the field Tuesday morning, it did so without its two starting outside cornerbacks.
One of the team’s top free agent pickups, Carlton Davis, has appeared in just two of six training camp practices so far while dealing with an undisclosed injury that started his summer on the NFI list. New England then saw second-team All-Pro Christian Gonzalez suffer a hamstring injury in Monday’s practice that kept him out of Day 2 of full pads.
With the two sidelined, New England’s cornerback depth was put to the test on Tuesday. Among them was third-year pro Alex Austin, who took one of the two outside roles that were left unmanned.
“It’s a physical game we play, so all it means is just next man up,” Austin said after practice. “You’ve got to be ready, step into that role, and the standard is the standard. So keep a hold of the standard and play ball.”
Ending each of his first two seasons on positive notes, Austin spent the spring serving as New England’s No. 4 cornerback behind Gonzalez, Davis, and slot option Marcus Jones. That even included the 6-foot-1 Austin spending time in the slot despite most of his NFL experience coming outside.
“I feel like I’ve grown mentally just being able to take in all the reps that I’ve taken in now from my rookie year to now,” Austin said. “This being my third training camp, I just feel a lot stronger mentally. The game has slowed down a lot and I’m ready to go out there and have fun.”
In addition to Austin, second-year corners Marcellas Dial Jr. and D.J. James, who joined New England’s practice squad last September before earning a futures contract, also saw reps with the first-team defense throughout the day.
James in particular has been a noticeable, under-the-radar bright spot in the secondary through the early days of training camp. The former practice squad member hauled in the first interception off of Joshua Dobbs and also recorded a handful of pass breakups.
Miles Battle, Isaiah Bolden, Kobee Minor, Brandon Crossley and Jordan Polk then round out the group of Patriots corners fighting for roster spots. As the Patriots are now taking things slow with their top two corners, the competition will continue to increase throughout the summer and into preseason games and joint practices.
“I try to come in the building and prepare myself every day for game week,” Austin said. “Just get ready out here, have fun with the guys, build, have fun competing and just get ready for these games coming up this year.”