Ballard is a go for camp

Less than 24 hours after being placed on the New England Patriots' active PUP list, tight end Jake Ballard has passed his physical and subsequently given the go ahead to participate in training camp.

Patriots training camp begins on Thursday with veterans reporting to the teams' practice facilities at Gillette Stadium.

Ballard had been rehabilitating from an ACL tear and microfracture surgery on his left knee for the past year and a half, and reports coming out of OTAs suggested that Ballard's abilities as a route runner and for gaining separation had been sapped by the injury - and being placed on the Patriots' Physically Unable to Perform active list on Monday helped to magnify the negative reports...

...but in passing his physical examination on Tuesday, the already awkwardly mobile Ballard now has the opportunity to put those notions to rest when the pads are on.

The 6' 6", 260 pound Ohio State product has marginal speed and the elusiveness of a sloth but also has huge, reliable hands that can pull in anything he can reach, then looks for as many yards after the catch as he can get - smart enough to know that the quickest route to a first down is by bulldozing a defensive back.

Also a terrific blocker, he is rarely pretty, but since when were football games decided on beauty?