Bill Belichick’s love for the sport of lacrosse is well known. His daughter Amanda is the Women’s Lacrosse Coach at Holy Cross. He is also good friends with former John’s Hopkins Coach Dave Pietramala and lacrosse legend Paul Rabil. Which is why it isn’t a surprise he is giving a lacrosse player a shot at playing in the NFL.

According to a report on Friday from Doug Kyed of A to Z Sports, the Patriots are giving Dox Aitken, a former All-America lacrosse player at Virginia his shot at this weekend’s rookie minicamp. It will be a tryout only.

Aitken last played football in 2015 while attending Haverford Prep in Pennsylvania. That’s right. He was in high school the last time he played football.

Aitken was a wide receiver, safety and punter. At 6-2 210, he has the size to certainly play any of those three positions. Does he have the athleticism however? Based on his lacrosse highlights, he does.

Aitken played in 77 lacrosse games over five collegiate seasons. He scored 138 goals and was a first-team All-America honors in 2018 and 2019. He played midfielder which is important because that is a position that requires athleticism and endurance. Aitken was nominated for the Tewaaraton Trophy twice. In case you don’t know, that is lacrosse’s version of the Heisman. He lead Virginia to a national championship in 2019.

So you are probably wondering, how does that make him qualified to play in the NFL? Good question. Obviously Belichick sees something in him so he’s giving him a shot. It is the outside the box thinking that Belichick is legendary for. Most of the time, that line of thinking works with the exception of last season’s offensive staff.

The odds of Aitken making the team are slim but old friend Gunner Olszewski, a former cornerback was a camp invitee who advanced to mini-camp, then training camp and eventually the 53 man roster. He ended up moving to receiver and returning kicks for three years before signing with the Steelers last off-season.

So based on that, it is not surprising that Aitken is getting his shot. It is a typical Belichick thing to do.