Latest Update On Injured Patriots’ N’Keal Harry, Maurice Harris

First-round draft pick N’Keal Harry hasn’t been in practice after suffering an injury in the preseason opener against the Detroit Lions. Harry came home from Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday after the team’s second joint practice with the Titans. In other words, Harry won’t play with the team when they confront the Titans on Saturday night at Nissan Stadium in Week 2.

Kevin Duffy from the Boston Herald reported that, “N’Keal Harry left last night’s game with an undisclosed injury after making an acrobatic 25-yard catch. Harry’s injury is not believed to be significant, according to a source. He stayed on the sideline for remainder of first half, chatting with Tom Brady and other teammates.

“Harry is likely going to miss some practice time, but his Week 1 status does not appear to be in jeopardy, a source said.”

Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports Boston reported that Maurice Harris “has a lower-leg injury that will be a while.”

Analysts have already started making comments on Harry’s skills.

“Under,” ESPN’s Mike Reiss writes, evaluating whether the rookie will have over/under 50 receptions. “Going with the under is simply based on the history of rookie receivers in the Patriots’ system. The best season for a rookie receiver in Bill Belichick’s previous 19 seasons as Patriots coach was Deion Branch’s 43-catch season in 2002. Harry should see a lot of action, but betting on more than 50 receptions seems risky until he consistently proves he can reliably catch the football.” 

However, Tedy Bruschi is impressed.

“Cannot wait to see the development of N’Keal Harry this season. Showed potential v Lions,” he wrote.

The GOAT is fine with the defense this year.

“We’ve got a very good defense this year,” Brady said after the practice. “Those guys are challenging us on every day. It’s hard to complete passes on our secondary. That’s just the reality. So, it’s actually great work for our offense to see how we measure up against a very good defense. Days like today are frustrating for us and we’ve got to learn from the corrections and try to come out and have a better day tomorrow.”