New England Patriots safety Patrick Chung has been indicted by a grand jury on felony cocaine possession charges stemming back to a June 25th incident at his residence in Meredith, New Hampshire. This is a lone charge and Chung is the only individual involved at the current time. The next step in this situation is an arraignment set for August 28th, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rappaport.
The Patriots are keeping to their in-house code as they are not going into the specifics and details. They issued a statement quickly after news broke.
“We are aware of the reports regarding Patrick Chung. We will not be commenting while his judicial proceedings take place.”
Chung could find himself of the “Except Commissioner’s List” during the legal proceedings or could simply be cut outright by the team. Under the NFL policy, Violations of Law Involving Other Substances of Abuse, Chung could face a four game suspension as a potential first time offender.
The league issued a statement as well Thursday, stating, “We will monitor developments in the law enforcement matter.”
Chung, who is a veteran of the league since 2009, has spent nine of his ten NFL seasons in New England aside from a 2013 stint in Philadelphia. 2019 would be his 11th season, and Chung has 723 career tackles, 11 interceptions and a member of three New England Super Bowl teams.
Chung has been a valuable member to the team’s secondary and overall defense, and would be a major loss if he has played his last down for the Patriots. That remains to be seen as this is still a fluid situation.
Be sure to check back here at Pro Football Network for the latest on this situation, and a deep diver later in the week as to how a potential Chung absence could negatively impact the Patriots during the 2019 season and beyond.