Pats’ Olszewski building on last year’s success

FOXBORO — A year ago, Gunner Olszewski represented a feel-good story.

He was the prototypical underdog at an NFL training camp who was out to show he belonged. That story made him a fan favorite as former Division II cornerback transitioned to receiver and somehow, some way made the Patriots 53-man roster.

Sure, Olszewski was raw, but the 6-foot, 190-pound kid from Alvin, Texas, left it all out on the field. When the games started, he played like one of those [...]

FOXBORO — A year ago, Gunner Olszewski represented a feel-good story.

He was the prototypical underdog at an NFL training camp who was out to show he belonged. That story made him a fan favorite as former Division II cornerback transitioned to receiver and somehow, some way made the Patriots 53-man roster.

Sure, Olszewski was raw, but the 6-foot, 190-pound kid from Alvin, Texas, left it all out on the field. When the games started, he played like one of those metallic balls in a glass-covered pinball machine, bouncing off defenders and attacking everyone and anything with reckless abandon. He was fun to watch until his season ended prematurely due to ankle and hamstring injuries.

A year later, Olszewski might still be an underdog, but when you see him on the practice field at training camp, it certainly looks like he belongs. And the 23-year-old looks like one of the most improved Patriots players from a year ago.

"Gunner’s improved tremendously. Again, both physically and from a football standpoint," said Bill Belichick. "He’s a smart kid, he works extremely hard. He’s tough, he’s very, very competitive. He needs to learn how to do a lot of different things for us and he continues to work on things that will expand his opportunities. So it’ll be interesting to watch him take advantage, or try to take advantage, of those opportunities, and watch him play and see how all of that’s coming together. His overall background, knowledge, understanding, being a professional athlete, training, some of his fundamental athletic skills — he’s refined those quite a bit and he’s much, much, much further ahead from where he was last year."

A ringing endorsement from Belichick isn’t easy to come by. Throughout camp last week, however, Olszewski continuously showed improvement. Considering he was a defensive back most of his football life, the transition to a new position was tough in 2019. That summer, Olszewski made the Patriots in part because of his punt-return ability.

In the preseason, he caught just five passes for 69 yards in four games. But as a return man, he stuck out, averaging 13.1 yards per punt return and 23.8 yards per kickoff return. In the regular season, Olszewski appeared in eight games. He caught two passes for 34 yards. As a punt returner, he averaged 8.9 yards per return.

Although he finished the season on the injured reserve, he admits that he came into this camp more confident.

"How much did I learn? You want a percentage? A lot," Olszewski said. "That's what we come in here every day, especially after getting hurt and getting put on IR. All you have is the mental side of the game. I think I learned a lot."

This summer Olszewski looks more confident as a receiver. His routes look crisper and more physical; he look bigger and faster. When the team held 1-on-1 drills, Olszewski was the only receiver to go 3-0 and even beat Jonathan Jones on one rep. After six days of camp, Olszewski trails only Julian Edelman in receptions for Patriots receivers with 11, tied with Damiere Byrd.

Right now, Olszewski isn’t a roster lock, but he’s right there in the competition for the last three or four spots at receiver. He’s competing with the likes of Byrd, Devin Ross, Mohamed Sanu and Jakobi Meyers with the only true roster locks being Edelman and N’Keal Harry.

The competition will only heat up as camp advances and Olszewksi will need to continue his pace to once again make the roster, but he’s off to a great start. Edelman said on Sunday that Olszewski is "running great routes." That sentiment has been heard from the defensive players as well. On Sunday, cornerback Jones said he could see Olszewski’ improvement. Cornerback J.C. Jackson also had positive things to say.

"Gunner is a tough kid," said Jackson. "Gunner is the type of kid you know you have to compete against. He’s coming at you every play, every snap. He’s going to go 100 percent, even in blocking drills. He’s a dog. He has a dog mentality. I love going against Gunner."

mdaniels@providencejournal.com

On Twitter: @MarkDanielsPJ