The Patriots drafted wide receivers Aaron Dobson and Josh Boyce in hopes of vertically stretching the field on offense, but they’ll have to wait a little bit longer to see Boyce in action on the field.
Boyce is not taking part in on-field work at this weekend’s rookie minicamp because of a broken bone in his foot. Boyce is believed to have suffered the injury before the combine and had surgery after running a 4.38 for NFL scouts in Indianapolis.
Field Yates of ESPNBoston.com reports that Boyce termed his status “day-to-day” for a return to a full workload, a timeline that should have him ready to go in plenty of time for training camp this August. Once Boyce is healthy, it is expected that he and Dobson will battle for a starting role alongside Danny Amendola in the Patriots’ base offensive set.
Rookie wide receivers have been a mixed bag when it comes to production in their first seasons, which makes it a bit of a risk for the Patriots to count on two of them next season. That risk is mitigated by the presence of Amendola, Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, though, and the Patriots were just fine offensively without pressuring defenses down the field the way they hope the two newcomers will this time around.
