FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Within hours of signing a one-year, show-me deal with the New England Patriots on March 16, Jeremy Hill was buying in.
“Just like old times,” he told his former Bengals teammate Rex Burkhead via Twitter. “Let’s go get it.”
Later that day, Lions tight end Eric Ebron tweeted about his search for a new team. Hill was already recruiting: “Come to Pats bro.”
Throughout offseason training activities and the preseason, Hill has been an exuberant newcomer. Celebrating hockey and Boston accents on Twitter while espousing the team motto, “Do your job.”
Hill’s excitement over joining the Patriots is especially noteworthy because he still hasn’t made the team. However, the mere opportunity to contend with a loaded position group for a roster spot that might not even exist had heightened meaning to a player who hasn’t played since last October. Hill, who spent the first four years of his career with the Bengals, went on injured reserve midway through 2017 for an ankle injury that required season-ending surgery. He said he felt like he was observing the season from a distance.
“I think for me last year being on IR was an eye-opening experience,” Hill said Wednesday in the Patriots’ locker room. “You kind of feel on the outside. The guys are practicing and working and battling and you have no input on that. So that gave me a different perspective on the game.”
Hill’s signing came in the midst of a long rehab and recovery process. The Patriots also asked him to lose weight, and he complied, dropping from his listed weight of 236 last season into the 220s. He has said it’s his lowest weight since high school.
“I realized how much of a privilege it really is,” to play in the NFL, Hill said. “So every opportunity that I get to go out there on the field is a once-in-a-lifetime chance.”
Hill has made the most of his opportunities so far. He is the Patriots’ leading rusher in the preseason, with 107 yards on 26 carries (a 4.12 average), even though his likely opponent for a roster spot, Mike Gillislee, has more carries with 33 for 100 yards.
“I know it can be taken from you at any moment,” Hill said earlier this week.
Whether this opportunity will be taken from Hill likely comes down to three factors:
1. The number of running backs New England carries on its 53-man roster.
2. Performance on the field.
3. Money.
Of course, health is always an unspoken factor in these matters, and Hill had a scare in Friday night’s preseason loss to the Panthers. He exited the game in the second half after injuring his right ankle (the ankle he had surgery on), but later returned for a special teams play and told the Boston Herald’s Kevin Duffy that he was okay.
As for performance, Hill seems to have the lead on Gillislee heading into this week’s final preseason game. Gillislee, a restricted free agent poached from Buffalo last year, had a big start to his 2017 season with three touchdowns in the opener and then quickly faded out of the Patriots’ plans. As Dion Lewis claimed command over the running back position, Gillislee’s use diminished and he was only active for nine games, including the postseason.
Money may be the area where Hill has the biggest advantage over Gillislee. Gillislee would cost the Patriots a cap hit of $2.181 million this year, but Hill’s cap hit would only be $1.331 million. It stands to reason that Gillislee may not just have to outperform Hill, but may also have to demonstrate an additional $850,000 in value.
The only question that remains is whether the Patriots will carry five running backs on the 53-man roster, as they did last year. It would seem that first-round pick Sony Michel, despite battling a knee injury, is a certainty to make the roster, as is Burkhead, a strong contributor last year who has missed preseason time with an injury. James White has contributed 116 catches over the last two seasons, so he’s also likely in. There is little doubt that fullback James Develin will make the team.
When everyone was heathy last year, the Patriots often kept Gillislee inactive on game day, which suggests that the fifth running back spot is not a necessity. However, with Michel’s Week 1 status unclear, and the lack of a true workhorse-type back to fill that role, it stands reason that Hill or Gillislee will get that extra spot. But almost certainly not both.
Dave Brown is a freelance correspondent who covers the Patriots for the Monitor. You can follow him on Twitter @ThatDaveBrown.