{"id":695753,"date":"2026-06-10T14:29:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T14:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/695753\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T14:29:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T14:29:08","slug":"patriots-consider-ex-tryout-player-for-special-teams-quarterback-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/695753\/","title":{"rendered":"Patriots consider ex-tryout player for special teams \u2018quarterback\u2019 role"},"content":{"rendered":"

Compared to other moves the New England Patriots made this offseason, trading Marte Mapu to the Houston Texans<\/a> as part of a late-round draft pick exchange in 2027 was little more than a footnote. However, parting ways with the former third-rounder nonetheless left its mark on the roster.<\/p>\n

Besides Mapu serving as a backup linebacker, he also played a prominent role in the kicking game. The three-year veteran served as personal punt protector in 2025, meaning that he was responsible for line calls and setting the protection up front. With him off the roster, however, a replacement needs to be found.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeter Manuma from Hawaii, he\u2019s done a good job being back there in some reps,\u201d said special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer ahead of Tuesday\u2019s mandatory minicamp practice at Gillette Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery in control of his body. His body movement\u2019s really good. And I like how vocal he is. Very vocal, very confident when he talks. And I think that\u2019s a sign of confidence. I do like that from that position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spending his entire four-year college career at Hawaii, Manuma was a productive player for the Rainbow Warriors. He appeared in 49 games with 35 starts, was named a team captain twice, and registered five interceptions and three forced fumbles.<\/p>\n

Despite his production and some solid athletic traits \u2014 Manuma ran a 4.47-second 40-yard dash during the pre-draft process \u2014 no NFL team was willing to offer him a contract until after the Patriots\u2019 rookie minicamp. Since then, he has apparently done a good enough job to put himself into consideration for a quarterback-like role in the kicking game.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery year you try to find a new guy that\u2019s like the quarterback,\u201d Springer said. \u201cYou\u2019re just trying to spend a little more time with those guys outside of the meeting time, if you can, if they want to come up and meet with you. You find ways in training camp to get them rolling, and you just try to find extra time with those guys. Hopefully, you get a guy back there that\u2019s confident, can conduct himself, and leads with confidence. That\u2019s what you really need back there.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Springer\u2019s eyes, Manuma fits the bill. The same is true for some other options.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a number of guys,\u201d he said. \u201cMike Brown\u2019s done a good job coming in here. He did it in Tennessee. Craig Woodson\u2019s always done it. Lan Larison. You try to look for a safety or running back, guys who are confident.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite lacking the experience of his competitors, the 23-year-old Manuma seemingly is not missing the confidence New England is looking for. That at least puts him in play for the job, even though more time will pass before Springer and company make a decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a bunch of guys trying out for it,\u201d Springer said. \u201cWe\u2019ll figure out in training camp who\u2019s the guy, and we\u2019ll go from there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Compared to other moves the New England Patriots made this offseason, trading Marte Mapu to the Houston Texans…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":695754,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[138214,74524,349,99],"class_list":["post-695753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-new-england-patriots-first-read","tag-new-england-patriots-roster","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=695753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/695754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=695753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=695753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=695753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}