Report: Patriots did not attend Colin Kaepernick’s workout

By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com

Contrary to original reports, the New England Patriots were not among the group of NFL teams at free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick's workout on Saturday, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

The Patriots were clearly not alone in going from attending to skipping, though, as the NFL-scheduled workout for Kaepernick quickly appeared to turn into one gigantic gong-show for all parties involved.

It was around 2:30 p.m. that teams were reportedly notified that Kaepernick was not going to be attending the scheduled workout at the Falcons' facility, and was instead going to hold his own workout at a school in Riverdale. This came as a result of Kaepernick wanting to have media (along with his own film crew) in attendance, which the NFL had denied, Kaepernick's reps and attorney claimed. That request was about transparency, according to Kaepernick.

"Our biggest thing with everything today was making sure we had transparency in what went on," Kaepernick said. "We weren't getting that elsewhere. so we came out [to Riverdale]."

This transparency-based switch was not an easy one for the 25 teams originally scheduled to watch Kaepernick, however, as the sudden change interrupted schedules and created a 60-mile trek for those interested in seeing the veteran quarterback throw. It certainly impacted the eyes on Kaepernick, too, with only eight teams attending the workout, according to Schefter. Per Schefter, the eight teams that did attend the workout were the Chiefs, Jets, Eagles, Titans, Redskins, Bills, Lions, and 49ers.

But speaking after the session, Kaepernick maintained his readiness for a return to pro football.

"I've been ready for three years,'' Kaepernick said. "I've been denied for three years. We all know why I came out here. [I] showed it today in front of everybody. We have nothing to hide. So we're waiting for the 32 owners, 32 teams, Roger Goodell, all of them stop running. Stop running from the truth. Stop running from the people."

Speaking with reps from those teams after his workout, Kaepernick told them to tell the owners to, "stop being scared."

The 32-year-old Kaepernick, who has not played in the NFL since the 2016 season, when he was the starter for a 2-14 San Francisco squad, has thrown for 12,271 passing yards and 72 touchdowns in 69 career NFL games.