Coming off a torn ACL that prematurely ended his junior season at Michigan, Cameron McGrone was not expected to take the field as a rookie in the NFL.
His first year with the New England Patriots was indeed a redshirt campaign of sorts. A fifth-round selection by the Patriots in the 2021 draft, McGrone spent the entire offseason, all of training camp, and first three months of the regular season recovering and therefore sidelined on the non-football-injury list (NFI).
He was still able to gain experience in the class room, and even made a brief appearance at practice.