The pads remained on for the second straight day as the New England Patriots dialed up the intensity for Thursday’s training camp session. The physicality was the highest it’s been all summer, as the team even worked throughout live tackling drills during one portion of practice.
Here’s everything that happened throughout the session.
Attendance
Absent: OG Cole Strange, LB Terez Hall, WR Ty Montgomery, OG Michael Onwenu (PUP), DB Cody Davis (PUP), OT Calvin Anderson (NFI)
Red non-contact jersey: LB Marte Mapu, TE Johnny Lumpkin*
Limited: OT Trent Brown, LB Matthew Judon, DB Brad Hawkins, WR Tyquan Thornton
*new addition
Takeaways
Back-and-forth: After the offense delivered its biggest punch of the summer on Wednesday, it was a bit more back-and-forth on Thursday. Perhaps part of that was the fact that Mac Jones repped with the “starting” offensive line — one that was without Trent Brown, Cole Strange and Michael Onwenu again — but backup skill players for the majority of practice, while Zappe had the opposite.
As for Jones, he did have a strong ball to Tre Nixon on a deep corner route and was more impressive inside the red area with the starting skill players added back to the mix. It wasn't all perfect though, as Kyle Dugger hauled in his third interception of camp. Zappe also tossed an INT in the red area as Adrian Phillips stepped right in front of Demario Douglas from the robber spot.
Jack Jones: Perhaps the biggest storyline from Thursday’s session was Jack Jones’ status. The cornerback appeared upset after Kendrick Bourne hauled in an out route against him early in practice. He spoke to cornerback coach Mike Pellegrino briefly before departing the field. Jabrill Peppers quickly caught up to him and put his arm around him to share some words on his way out.
Jones eventually returned to the field roughly 20 minutes later and took a knee on the sideline. Patriots director player of personnel Matt Groh joined him for a word, but Jones never returned to practice. A curious situation all around.
Ryland Rebounds: It was a shaky end to Tuesday’s kicking session for rookie Chad Ryland, who squeaked a kick in along the right upright before pushing his last attempt wide left. How the rookie responded was on my radar heading into Thursday’s practice.
Back kicking on Thursday, Ryland passed with flying colors going 9-for-9 from this point of view — including three makes in two-minute situations. His powerful leg was on display as well, as his long for the day appeared to be in the 45-50-yard range.
Physical Gonzalez: Concerns about rookie cornerback Christian Gonzalez’s physicality may have been the reason he was even available when the Patriots were on the clock at pick No. 17. With the pads on Thursday, Gonzalez delivered perhaps the most physical play of camp to date — coming downhill to record a heavy tackle for loss on Raleigh Webb. The defensive sideline lit up after the play.
OL vs. DL: A second straight day of 1-on-1s with pads on Thursday. That resulted in another strong rep from Riley Reiff against Deatrich Wise Jr., while Conor McDermott lost to the same competitor. The struggles continued for Bill Murray as he ended up on the ground against Daniel Ekuale. Murray’s replacement in team drills, rookie Atonio Mafi, impressed again, logging a win over Davon Godchaux.
Untouchable Douglas: Rookie Demario Douglas has quite the different skillset than the rest of New England’s receivers. That was on display during a 1-on-1 tackling drill in Thursday’s session, as none of New England’s corners could get the 5-foot-8 Douglas to the ground. “Pop” also created a comfortable cushion against Marcus Jones in a separate 1-on-1 session.
Other notes:
- 6-foot-5, 290-pound rookie defensive lineman Keion White continues to show up with the pads on. He was in the backfield plenty throughout team drills, drawing at least two or three pressures. Sam Roberts also caught my eye several times in the backfield, recording a would-be sack on one instance.
- A few highlights from skill players vs. defensive backs 1-on-1s: Hunter Henry impressed again, Kendrick Bourne beat Quandre Mosely deep on a double move, and Christian Gonzalez recovered nicely to breakup a pass intended for JuJu Smith-Schuster.
- The play likely would have been a sack in real time, but Kayshon Boutte hauled in an impressive touchdown from Zappe along the back end line. The rookie’s impressive body control stands out.
- With Jack Jones out, cornerback Isaiah Bolden had some run along the boundary in the final two minute session. He recorded a strong PBU on a jump ball down the left sideline to DeVante Parker, as did Jonathan Jones yet again down near the goal line. Parker seemed to have signaled for Jones to get the ball higher up in the air.
- Mac Jones had Mike Gesicki for what looked like an easy score down in the red-area, but a tug on the jersey from Myles Bryant — which drew a flag from the media tent — resulted in the pass falling incomplete.
- Another strong play design from Bill O’Brien down in the red-area, as a rub route led to a wide open JuJu Smith-Schuster. New England made an early emphasis in that area and the results are starting to show.
- Rookie Bryce Baringer was first up in team punting drills and again was the lone holder throughout practice.
- Former Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman was a guest at today’s practice and signed autographs for roughly an hour after practice concluded.
The Patriots will be back on Friday for their annual in-stadium practice. The session is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET, with gates set to open at 6:00 for season ticket members and Foxborough residents.
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