The Patriots' 2025 offseason was bound to get a lot of attention due to the departure of Jerod Mayo after just one season as the head coach and the arrival of Mike Vrabel with his coaching staff, who many felt should have been Bill Belichick's successor from the beginning. While the extra eyes on New England make sense in that regard, there was also the expectation of numerous roster moves to be made that would garner plenty of reaction, which has certainly been the case thus far.
Most of the attention has been predominantly positive, with the newest additions to the team dominating headlines. But some players, like second-year wide receiver Ja'Lynn Polk, have fallen off the radar a bit and only seem to be becoming less memorable as OTAs continue.
The UW alum entered the offseason with a lot on his shoulders, along with fellow 2024 draft pick Javon Baker. Neither had the kind of rookie year that anyone had expected, especially Polk, since he was a second-round pick. However, expectations are higher going into this season, and Vrabel appears to have taken more interest in Baker's development thus far.
That doesn't bode well for Polk's chances the rest of the summer, or even making the 2025 roster.
Ja'Lynn Polk has a lot to overcome this offseason to make the Patriots roster
After earlier reports suggested the new regime in Foxboro has a strong belief in Baker becoming a solid wide receiver, Vrabel's latest interaction with him during Wednesday's OTAs seems to prove that further to be true.
Baker has been working with starters during practice over the past few weeks and was seen being coached one-on-one by Vrabel during and at the end of Wednesday's session.
While this is great news for Baker's future in New England, it doesn't necessarily mean good things are coming for Polk, who has been virtually absent.
To some degree, it can be attributed to his limited status over the past few weeks, but there is also room for concern given his need to have a standout summer to cement his spot on this season's roster. As of right now, it looks like Baker might be taking that from him.
There's still plenty of time for things to change, as we see every offseason, even last year when Baker and Polk flip-flopped who was performing better on the practice field. However, there is a lot of pressure on both, especially Polk now, to impress with their performance, as the wide receiver room is the stiffest competition with 12 players currently signed to the roster.
That makes a delay in his return to the field or falling behind a player like Baker an even bigger hill for Polk to climb.