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N'Keal Harry clears air after requesting trade from New England Patriots

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – On July 6, N’Keal Harry’s agent, Jamal Tooson, announced that he formally requested for the Patriots to trade his client. On July 28, Harry was still in New England and present for the Patriots first day of training camp. Three days later, the wide receiver is still here.

On Friday, Harry met with the media for the first time since his agent requested a trade. The Patriots 2019 first-round pick said he’s happy to still be in New England and will be happy if he doesn’t get traded.

“Right now, I'm really not worried about anything trade-wise,” Harry said when asked why he requested a trade. “I'm focused on how to be the best version of myself on the field, going out there, working hard and improving every day.”

When asked if he was comfortable with his current standing in New England, Harry said his return to town hasn’t been awkward.

“Everything has been very normal,” Harry said. “Like I said, I've just been focused on helping this team win and doing whatever I can to become the best version of myself.”

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New England Patriots wide receiver N'Keal Harry (15) looks on after an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020, in Inglewood, Calif. The Rams defeated the Patriots, 24-3. [Ryan Kang via AP]
New England Patriots wide receiver N'Keal Harry (15) looks on after an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020, in Inglewood, Calif. The Rams defeated the Patriots, 24-3. [Ryan Kang via AP]

Tooson’s statement about the trade request said that it was about opportunity for Harry. This offseason, the Patriots signed four new offensive weapons in Jonnu Smith, Hunter Henry, Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne. Add in Jakobi Meyers and it’s clear that Harry might not have as many opportunities as he had last year.

Overall, Harry's first two years (after becoming Bill Belichick's first-ever first-round receiver) has been disappointing for all parties. Despite starting 14 of 21 games played, Harry has had little production. In two seasons, he has caught 45 passes for 414 yards with four touchdowns. Last year, he finished with 33 receptions, 309 yards and two scores - and that was as a part of an offense that lacked offensive weapons.

When asked about the new additions on offense, Harry said those signings made him “excited.”

“I feel like we have so many good players on this team, and at some point, at one point or another, we're going to be able to make a difference,” Harry said. “I'm just trying to make sure I can fit in somewhere in there.”

In the event he doesn’t get traded, Harry said he would still be happy playing in New England.

“I'm a Patriot right now,” Harry said. “I'm very OK with being a Patriot.”

When asked why that was the case, Harry responded, “Because I just feel like I can really help this team win. And I feel like I can have a big role within this team.”

Cam Newton stands out in Day 3 of Patriots training camp

The pace was ramped up on Day 3 of Patriots minicamp. With the team’s quarterback competition in its infancy stages, Cam Newton and Mac Jones were again the focus. Unlike the previous two days of practice, we saw more reps and deeper throws from the two quarterbacks.

With the competition heating up, both quarterbacks had good moments on Friday, but it was Newton who stuck out with a very strong finish.

The veteran quarterback completed 14 of 20 passes, hitting 70% of his targets. Newton started Friday’s session on a slow note, completing two of five passes in the first two 11-on-11 periods. There were some awkward incomplete passes during that time frame, but Newton turned on the burners hitting his next six targets in a row. That stretch included two nice touchdown passes to N’Keal Harry and Jonnu Smith.

Newton kept up that pace for most of practice. He looked great in the last full-team period as well, hitting four of five passes. That included touchdowns to Nelson Agholor (over J.C. Jackson) and Gunner Olszewski (over Jonathan Jones). The veteran looked more comfortable on Friday and has the edge over Jones in this quarterback competition.

Patriots quarterback Cam Newton prepares to thrown during training camp Wednesday in Foxboro.
Patriots quarterback Cam Newton prepares to thrown during training camp Wednesday in Foxboro.

Jones had some notable moments as well. The first rounder started strong, completing his first three passes in the first 11-on-11 period. All three throws were great, including two eye-opening touchdowns to Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne. When Jones is on, he throws a very, very nice ball. With the rookie, however, there also were some inconsistencies. Jones finished 8-of-18, completing just 44% of his throws in full-team drills.

Jones had some bad luck with two drops – one on a great deep ball to Agholor and another to Devin Ross – and an incomplete on what Agholor thought was a holding penalty. The rookie had struggled toward the end of practice in each of the last two days of camp.

Brian Hoyer finished 13-of-23 (56%) on the day. He had a nice connection with Olszewski, who was all over practice on Friday. The receiver/returner caught six passes – three from Hoyer, two from Newton and one from Jones.

Agholor had his best practice that we’ve seen this spring/summer. The veteran dropped Jones’ deep pass early, but rebounded nicely. Agholor finished with five catches and two touchdowns in practice. He seems to have a solid rapport with both Newton and Jones.

We saw 3-on-3 drills for the first time this summer. These periods pitted the offense against the defense about five yards away from the goal line. Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith both stood out, making leaping touchdown grabs over Devin McCourty. Kyle Dugger and Dee Virgin had pass breakups during this drill.

The defense was active once again. In full-team drills, there were pass deflections from Jackson, Josh Uche, Tashawn Bower, Adrian Colbert, Kyle Dugger and Michael Jackson Sr.

Next up, the Patriots return for Day 4 of camp on Saturday. Practice starts at 9:30 a.m. and is open to the public.

Ted Karras suffers knee injury in practice

The Patriots had their first injury of training camp on Friday when guard/center Ted Karras went down with an apparent injury to his left leg. Karras left practice, but a person with knowledge of the injury, speaking to USA TODAY Network on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss medical information, said the injury doesn’t appear to be serious. The 28-year-old will have a precautionary MRI on that leg to make sure.

It looked like a teammate rolled into Karras’ left leg during an 11-on-11 play. The veteran looked to be in pain immediately following the snap. Before he left to go to the trainers locker, stationed behind the practice fields, Bill Belichick came over and talked with him. After being checked out by the trainers, Karras gingerly walked back into the locker room.

Karras is expected to be the Patriots' top backup center and guard this year. He returned to the Patriots this offseason after starting at center last season for Miami.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: N'Keal Harry clears air after requesting trade from Patriots