NFL penalizes Patriots for violating offseason rules

Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots are at it again. 

According to Mike Reiss of ESPN, the NFL has stripped two days of organized team activities from the Patriots for violating offseason rules. 

It's unclear what rule the Patriots broke, but judging by the punishment received, the team's indiscretion is not likely to produce anything juicy. 

Reiss' report adds clarity to Belichick's announcement earlier on Wednesday that Thursday's OTA session, the first open to reporters, had been canceled. Now, media members will have to wait another week – until Wed. May 31 – to attend a Patriots' OTA live and in person. 

From Spygate to Deflategate, the Patriots are no strangers to controversies that stray beyond NFL rules. In 2020, the Patriots were docked a 2021 third-round pick and fined $1.1 million after security caught the team's television crew filming the Cleveland Browns sidelines from the press box during a game in 2019. Until Wednesday's new punishment, Belichick and the Patriots had kept their noses relatively clean in recent years.

The Patriots' latest brush with NFL rule-breaking is probably due to a contact violation during OTA's, which several teams, including the Jacksonville Jaguars, Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers, have fallen victim to in recent years. In those instances, head coaches also faced fines, though it's unclear if Belichick will be lighter in the pocket soon as a result of this. 

The loss of two crucial days of offseason work before training camp won't please Belichick as the Patriots look to bounce back from an 8-9 finish in 2022. New England has a tough road ahead if it hopes to accomplish that feat, facing the third-toughest schedule in the NFL in 2023.