Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore skipped the team’s entire offseason program, including the mandatory minicamp. He has shown up for training camp on time, Field Yates of ESPN reports.
All eyes were on Gilmore as the Patriots required quarterbacks and players who ended the 2020 season on an injury-related reserve list to report Thursday. Gilmore ended last season with a partially torn quadriceps that landed him on injured reserve.
He will start camp on the physically unable to perform list.
Gilmore is in a contract dispute with the team as he enters the final season of his contract. He is due to make $7 million in base salary in 2021 after the Patriots moved up $5 million of his contract to 2020.
Gilmore recently told reporter Josina Anderson he wants to be paid what he’s worth, and the sides reportedly have made little progress on a new deal.
So could the 2019 defensive player of the year be “holding in,” taking his time to recover from his injury until he has a new deal or a new team? That remains to be seen. But, by reporting, he has avoided additional fines for holding out.