Rhamondre Stevenson is not a fan of his light workload during Patriots training camp
FOXBORO -- If Rhamondre Stevenson had it his way, he'd be going full bore throughout training camp. However, Stevenson is not in charge of making those kinds of calls.
That responsibility belongs to Bill Belichick, along with the New England coaching and training staffs. And in training camp, they are limiting the team's star running back in order to preserve him for the long season ahead.
Stevenson was limited on Monday when the Patriots held their first padded practice of camp, spending most of the practice on the conditioning field while everyone else did drills. He was back to a full participant Tuesday when the team wore just helmets and shells, but when the pads returned Wednesday, Stevenson was back to a limited status. He only rejoined his teammates for a two-minute drill at the end of the session, which wasn't all that competitive compared to the rest of practice.
The Patriots are basically borrowing from the NBA's "load management" playbook when it comes to Stevenson this summer. The running back is not a fan of that approach.
"Just trying to decrease my workload," he said after Wednesday's practice. "Honestly, you've got to ask Bill Belichick. I don't know why I'm not [practicing]. You've got to ask Bill, really."
Stevenson said that he is itching to play, especially when the pads are on and practice is as close to real football as it can get.
"When we don't have pads on, I'm not really itching as much," he confessed. "But since the pads are on, yeah, I'm itching to get out there."
But Stevenson said he'd "stay the course" with what the team has him doing. And it is hard to blame the Patriots for this approach, considering Stevenson is one of their best weapons on offense as he heads into his third NFL season.
Stevenson was the bell cow last season when he carried the ball 210 times and racked up 1,040 rushing yards on the ground. He also caught 69 passes on 88 targets out of the backfield to make him the second-most popular receiving option behind Jakobi Meyers. With such a heavy workload throughout the 2022 season, Stevenson tailed off a bit over the final six weeks of the season, outside of his monster game against the Las Vegas Raiders when he rushed for 172 yards on 19 carries.
Damien Harris is no longer behind Stevenson on the running back depth chart, and Meyers is gone from the receiving corps. A lot -- and we mean a lot -- is going to fall on Stevenson's shoulders in 2023.
With that in mind, the Patriots are doing all they can to limit the bumps and bruises that Stevenson takes during training camp. Stevenson may not like it, but that is how the Patriots are protecting their best offensive weapon heading into the new season.
"Whatever they say, I just take it and do what they say. Take it with a grain of salt," Stevenson said Wednesday. "I don't really ask too many questions. When something is told to me, I just try and do the best I can to do what they say. So it wasn't really a conversation about it, to be real."
