When Emil Igwenagu takes the field at Gillette Stadium Monday night for the Eagles against the Patriots, one of the people responsible for him appearing in the NFL won't be there.
"We still have practice Monday night, so I can't go," said Holy Name (Worcester) coach Mike Pucko. "This is a test. When you preach no one person is more important than the team all these years and then when you get to a point like this, you have to back it.
Igwenagu, an undrafted fullback/tight end out of UMass, is expected to play on special teams in the first half for the Eagles, and then he'll get his turn at fullback in the second half.
Fullback? In the NFL? Yup, it's still around in a few spots, including New England.
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The Eagles have two, after Owen Schmitt left as a free agent. Igwenagu is in a battle with incumbent Stanley Havili, the former Southern Cal standout who spent last season learning the offense on the practice squad.
This is already the second position switch for Igwenagu, a Boylston native, in his short stint with the Eagles. He started at fullback, then moved to tight end and H-back when Brent Celek was injured. Igwenagu showed he could handle that position, so the Eagles want to see what he can do just concentrating at fullback.
Hopping positions is old hat for Igwenagu.
He was a C-back (right back) in the double wing at Holy Name and finished his high school career with 5,037 yards and 54 touchdowns on 470 carries, being named MVP of two Super Bowls. But he was recruited as a linebacker at U­Mass.
Igwenagu joined UMass's offense full-time as a junior at H-back and fullback. Now he's doing the dance again.
"He's caught in the middle again," Pucko said. "Fullback isn't a big position in the NFL, and they've got some tight ends. There are some real issues there. So I don't know. Do I think he's going to make it somewhere? Absolutely, because he's just a tremendous overall athlete.
Pucko and Igwenagu have been working together since Igwenagu showed up at the Pop Warner fields in the sixth grade. He played varsity in the seventh grade when Pucko was coaching at West Boylston. There have been a lot of car rides — with long talks — to and from practice over the years.
One person who will be in attendance at Gillette is Igwenagu's mother, Josephine Chukuzmeca. She raised him and his three brothers as a single mother and is responsible for the tough-minded son who will take the field for the Eagles.
Igwenagu said it would be nice to take a big step toward making the Eagles with a big game against the Patriots, but he knows it's just part of the process.
That's what he's been doing to get to this point.
Many NFL tongues were sent wagging last week when Rand Getlin and Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports reported that a suspended high-level employee of Rosenhaus Sports — the leading agency for NFL players — is alleging that the company owes him more than $1 million in commission and compensatory damages.
Rosenhaus Sports vice president Danny Martoe made the claims against Drew and Jason Rosenhaus in an arbitration filing with the NFL Players Association.
Rosenhaus represents eight Patriots — Rob Gronkowski, Brandon Spikes, Donald Thomas, Donte' Stallworth, Jabar Gaffney, Visanthe Shiancoe, Marcus Forston, and Will Allen.
Martoe, who is on administrative leave with pay, said in the filing that he contributed to more than 91 players signing with Rosenhaus, including Gronkowski, for whom the agency negotiated a contract extension this offseason.
A fee dispute is at the center of the filing, but Martoe made several allegations that indicate this could be the tip of the iceberg for problems with Rosenhaus.
Martoe alleged that Rosenhaus Sports suggested he introduce players to a financial adviser who would "give Rosenhaus Sports a bigger loan and a better [loan] rate," which would result in Martoe getting "paid faster." That would be against NFLPA policies. Agents can't cut side deals that could be viewed as a conflict of interest.
■ In 2009, Drew Rosenhaus had to lend the company $300,000 to cover costs.
■ In 2010, Rosenhaus Sports did not pay employee salaries for two months.
Regardless of what happens with the NFLPA — and other agents have complained for years that the union has done nothing to Rosenhaus because it is stocked with Rosenhaus loyalists — other agents will consider this blood in the water.
For Rosenhaus, who wrote a book called "A Shark Never Sleeps," it means he's likely being circled.
We're getting very close to the point where there has to be a breakthrough in the lockout of officials by the NFL, or the season will have to start with replacement officials.
And if you're a fan of the Patriots, Packers, Saints, or another team that likes to push the envelope of fast-paced offense, you should be hoping the sides end the lockout and get the real officials in place.
Four general managers we talked to last week felt the biggest impact would be felt by teams that like to go no-huddle to keep the defense off-balance.
The NFL and the NFL Referees Association are fighting over pay, pensions, and how the NFL's proposal to introduce three additional full crews — to lessen stress and travel, among other things — would affect things.
The NFLRA maintains that the proposal to increase the number of officials came only last month and is a negotiating tactic.
The NFL also wants to hire seven full-time officials, at each position, to assist in training. The NFLRA wants to be sure they are fairly compensated on the level of other professional sports.
As far as the pension, as with other NFL employees, the league is moving to a 401(k) plan. The NFLRA wants officials to be grandfathered into the current plan.
Whatever the issues, both sides want to resolve this quickly. In 2001, replacement officials were used for one game. This lockout can't go much further before it starts to affect the playoff race.
The biggest issue is safety. If the lockout doesn't end soon, the NFL risks looking hypocritical (if it doesn't already). Commissioner Roger Goodell has preached endlessly about player safety being a priority, yet the men charged with protecting players — NFL officials — won't be in their usual positions for the start of the season because of money? How is that going to play?
Safety and integrity are supposed to be the pillars of the new NFL.
Sure seems like a lot to risk over what amounts to a drop in the bucket of the billion-dollar NFL.
One of the must-have books prior to each football season is the FootballOutsiders.com Almanac, from the Boston-based group, and it's in stores now. There is always a ton of good information through its statistical analysis and the game-charting project it does each season. Football Outsiders puts the Patriots' mean win total at 12 against a schedule it predicts to rank 28th-most difficult. Here are a few of the most interesting nuggets about the Patriots. No defensive-minded head coach has fielded a defense as bad as the 2011 Patriots in the past 20 years of FO statistics. The saving grace for the defense was that it bent but didn't break. No team gave up as many yards per drive (37.5) dating back to 1997, but the Patriots were the eighth-best defense in the red zone last season. The Patriots' "points prevented per drive" statistic was the best of any team the past 15 seasons. Only the Panthers and Rams had more games lost to injury. Rob Gronkowski had the greatest season by a tight end since FO started keeping statistics in 1991. Last season the Patriots threw to the running backs a league-low 9.5 percent of the time. It had been at least 17 percent since FO began tracking it. Zoltan Mesko, despite punting only 57 times, was worth 9.1 points of estimated field position — tied for fourth in the league, according to FO.
1. In the preseason, the NFL is experimenting with synthetic laces on the football instead of the usual leather ones. The league's pretty boys are not amused. "They're terrible," reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers told ESPN Milwaukee. OK, then.
2. Jets linebacker Bart Scott said he expects Mark Sanchez to "take that next step" and be one of the top 10 quarterbacks in the league. He's in his fourth season after being the fifth overall pick. Glad they're setting the bar high.
3. And Jets coach Rex Ryan said the defense will be in the top five. Why are the Jets so obsessed with rankings? Just win games, Rex. Nobody cares about style points.
4. Coach Joe Philbin said Chad Johnson's arrest wasn't the only reason he was cut by the Dolphins. "Hard Knocks" made that abundantly clear when David Garrard said, "I'm going to have to talk to Chad. He does so much stuff that I don't know if he's not getting the plays . . ." Wonder how many times that was said with the Patriots.
5. Patriots fans should definitely be excited to see what speedster Jeff Demps can add. They've finally added some actual talent to the return game. But considering that personnel executives polled said he would have been drafted from the fourth to the seventh round (one said late seventh) had he declared, Demps has to prove himself like every rookie.
Greg A. Bedard can be reached at gbedard@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @gregabedard. Material from interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.