The NFL stripped the New England Patriots of two OTA practices for an offseason rules violation.
According to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, a source identified a meetings violation as the supposed reason for the punishment.
“According to the source, an observer from the NFL Players Association believed that one of the optional early offseason meetings was a violation, because the 15-minute meeting in question (a special-teams session) was made visible on the internal schedule,” Florio wrote.
Patriots lost two OTA days due to a meeting violation; an NFLPA observer deemed an option gathering to be mandatory. https://t.co/7wqdOf30ON
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) May 25, 2023
Florio explained that placing the meeting on the schedule impermissibly changed it from “optional” to mandatory” in the NFLPA’s mind. The penalty had nothing to do with any on-field practice transgressions.
As a result, New England lost Thursday’s scheduled practice and another OTA session next week.
If true, this breach is hardly on par with Spygate or Deflategate. But losing two of 10 OTA practices bears some significance, especially for a meticulous coach like Bill Belichick.