The bad news for Patriots cornerback Alfonzo Dennard is that he is going to spend 30 days in jail for assaulting a police officer while in college at Nebraska.
The good news is that he won’t miss any time on the field with the Patriots. A judge in Lincoln, Nebraska sentenced Dennard to start his jail term on March 1, 2014, which means that he’ll be free to join the Pats for offseason work and training camp this year while remaining free for the entire season.
Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe reports that Dennard was also sentenced to 24 months of probation and 100 hours of community service that is “law-enforcement related.” He’s also barred from any travel that isn’t between Massachusetts and Nebraska or related to work with the Patriots without getting prior approval from the court.
The NFL said it would review Dennard’s case under the personal conduct policy, although an attempt to impose a suspension or other discipline would certainly open up the possibility of more legal wrangling since Dennard’s arrest came before he was in the NFL. Unless a suspension is handed down and upheld, the Patriots won’t be forced to play without Dennard at all and that makes their decision to use a seventh-round pick look like a risk that paid off.