Pats Pulpit
Patriots training camp is set to begin on Tuesday, July 23.
New England Patriots rookies and veterans will soon report back to Gillette Stadium as training camp is set to kick off. For the now Mike Vrabel-led Patriots, their first practice of the summer will begin on Wednesday, July 23 at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Before the players and coaches take the field, our preview series will continue with New England’s safety position.
*Denotes player on the Pats Pulpit 53-man roster projection
Starters: Kyle Dugger*, Jabrill Peppers* | Backups: Jaylinn Hawkins*, Craig Woodson* (R), Brenden Schooler*, Marcus Epps, Dell Pettus, Josh Minkins Jr. (U-R)
Despite returning their top four safeties from last season (Dugger, Peppers, Hawkins, Pettus), New England did not shy away from making external additions this offseason. The biggest came in the fourth-round of the 2025 NFL Draft as the Patriots landed rookie Craig Woodson with the 106th overall pick. New England also added veteran Marcus Epps in free agency who has 82 games of NFL experience under his belt but is coming off a torn ACL.
As an expected healthy Dugger and Peppers will likely remain as the top two options in the safety room, New England will have plenty of options behind them. Throughout the spring, Jaylinn Hawkins’ involvement was noteworthy in place of a limited Dugger. Dell Pettus will also look to regain his spot as a depth option after showing some flashes his rookie season while Epps, who also spent the spring limited, could push for time if healthy with experience as a deep safety.
After inking a lucrative four-year extension with New England last offseason, the 2024-25 season did not treat Kyle Dugger well. The safety, who enters this season as the Patriots longest tenured player, dealt with a severe, lingering ankle injury (that cost him four games and eventual offseason surgery) and an illness that slowed him down physically. As a result, Dugger seemed a step slow on the field from both a physical and mental side of things as he missed a career-high 13 tackles and did not record a turnover.
New England will now hope the decline in play was primarily due to injury for the 29-year old safety and that he can now get back to being a playmaker for Mike Vrabel and Terrell Williams’ defense. If not, New England will likely look to take advantage of the out in his contract next offseason.
Tabbed by New England’s front office as a smart safety with strong communication skills following his selection in the draft, it should not have been a surprise to see Woodson apart of the top defense at times this spring — often taking the field as the third safety in their big nickel packages.
And based off his time at Cal, it also wasn’t a surprise to see Woodson around the ball often which included an interception...
