Who's up and who's down? Here are your winners and losers from Patriots minicamp

The Patriots' summer vacation started early.

The Pats were scheduled to hold three days of mandatory minicamp last week and two days of voluntary workouts this week. But Bill Belichick canceled the final day last week due to inclement weather and had players lift inside instead. Belichick then canceled this week’s practices altogether.

The Patriots won’t reconvene until training camp at the end of July. The actual date hasn't been set yet.

This offseason, the Patriots held eight team practices (six OTAs and two days of minicamp) with the media allowed to watch four sessions. One of those practices was a walkthrough, so we saw only three days of competitive drills between the offense and defense. Although it was only a sneak peek, there were some clear winners and losers.

Here are the Patriots that are trending up and down following this offseason:

UP

Mac Jones, quarterback

Elite accuracy? Check. Command of the offense? Check. Improved deep balls? Check.

This isn’t hyperbole — Jones was the best player at Patriots minicamp. He showed off improved arm power. Arm strength was arguably his biggest weakness coming into the NFL. Jones put in the work this offseason to work on that and several of other weaknesses and he put on a show in front of the media. At minicamp, he completed 41-of-45 passes or 91% of his throws in competitive team drills. That’s ridiculous even by Tom Brady standards. Although Jones will never be Brady, it certainly appears the Patriots found their next franchise quarterback.

Nelson Agholor, wide receiver

Agholor’s first season in New England likely wasn’t what neither he nor the Patriots expected. The team’s highest-paid receiver finished with just 37 receptions, 473 yards and three touchdowns. Agholor heads into this season with the third-highest cap hit on the team. In the four practices we saw, the receiver looked improved.

Agholor finished with a team-high 13 catches in team drills. His nine catches from Jones led all players. That was noteworthy. Agholor also hauled in multiple deep passes, including a 40-yard diving reception. If he keeps this up, we might forget about his 2020 performance.

Tre Nixon, wide receiver

Nixon lit the Patriots practice field on fire. On the final day of minicamp, he hauled in a one-handed 60-yard touchdown catch over Jonathan Jones. That came after he made 30- and 35-yard catches previously in practice. The day before, Nixon made the catch of the day with a 40-yard reception. Nixon finished with 11 catches, which was second among Patriots receivers. His seven receptions from Jones trailed only Agholor.

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The key for Nixon is to keep this pace up when pads go on in training camp. He did most of his work out of the slot with Jakobi Meyers not participating in team drills. Would the Patriots think about trading Meyers to keep Nixon? That would be a shocker, but Nixon’s improved play could lead to a spot on the 53-man roster or another veteran being shipped out.

Jack Jones, cornerback

Back in 2018, it was a surprise to see rookie cornerback J.C. Jackson spend time with the starters in Patriots minicamp. This year, it was noteworthy that Jones was lined up opposite veteran cornerback Jalen Mills on defense. The Patriots move a lot of cornerbacks in and out of the lineup, but this rookie was almost always with Mills while Malcolm Butler played opposite Terrance Mitchell.

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This could be a sign that the Patriots see Jones as an immediate starter. He also played really well, finishing with an interception, a forced fumble and a pass breakup. The fourth-round pick could ultimately end up replacing Jackson, now in Los Angeles, in the Patriots defense.

Cole Strange, guard

Remember when people around the NFL laughed at the Patriots' choice to draft Strange in the first round? Remember when Patriots fans went crazy on Twitter?

Will any of that matter if Strange turns out to be a great pick?

We all know the answer to that question. In OTAs and minicamp, it was obvious that the Patriots viewed Strange as a plug-and-play starter. He played almost every rep we saw in team drills at left guard with the rest of the projected starting offensive line. It looks like the Patriots found themselves an instant starter in the first round.

Down

N’Keal Harry, wide receiver

It hasn’t been a good offseason for Harry. His choice to skip OTAs is questionable at best. He’s coming off a disappointing season, which saw him catch just 12 passes for 184 yards. You’d think he’d want to participate in optional OTAs after the Patriots traded for DeVante Parker and drafted Tyquan Thornton. Instead, he skipped out. At minicamp, he was mostly regulated to third-team duty.

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Harry looked behind every receiver on the depth chart — Meyers, Kendrick Bourne, Agholor, Parker, Nixon, Kristin Wilkerson, Thornton  and Malcolm Perry. Harry finished with one catch in minicamp , which was last among Patriots receivers.

Isaiah Wynn, tackle

Something strange is going on here. When Wynn decided to skip OTAs, the Patriots put Trent Brown at left tackle even though he started at right tackle last season. When Wynn came to minicamp, the Pats kept Brown on the left side and put Wynn on the right side. The weird thing about that is Wynn has zero game experience at right tackle in college or the NFL.

Why would you move your starting left tackle to right tackle? Wynn enters this season in a contract year and his cap hit is currently the fifth highest with a fully guaranteed $10.413 million salary. It doesn’t seem like a good sign that the Patriots would move him to right tackle. Maybe they’re gauging to see how he stacks up against backup Justin Herron. If the performance between the two is close, perhaps the Patriots would move Wynn to clear up some salary.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Here are your winners and losers from Patriots minicamp