FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- After being acquired in a trade from the Philadelphia Eagles, Eric Rowe went through his first practice with the New England Patriots on Wednesday and the early indication is that the club will initially have him work at cornerback.
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Rowe has some position flexibility between cornerback and safety, which has sparked the question of how the Patriots view his best fit in their scheme. A hint might have come during the warm-up and individual-drill part of Wednesday's practice, when Rowe worked with cornerbacks.
Rowe is expected to speak with reporters on Thursday.
On sports radio WEEI earlier this week, coach Bill Belichick said of Rowe, "He played safety his junior year, then corner his senior year. He's played on the perimeter [and] could possibly be a matchup type of coverage player, maybe will be able to play safety. I don't know. We'll have to wait until we get him here. He's done different things in the past."
Belichick added that Rowe has "some length" and "runs well," which puts him into a rare category because cornerbacks with those characteristics aren't plentiful around the NFL.
On the health front, every player was present for the start of practice, with tight end Rob Gronkowski catching the eye because he took some extra time to get stretched out by a member of the athletic training staff.
Also, with former Rutgers linebacker Quentin Gause joining the Patriots' practice squad, it appears he took the spot of defensive end Rufus Johnson, who wasn't spotted.
