FOXBOROUGH — With some of his key players a little dinged up on both sides of the ball, Bill Belichick appeared to take it easy on his vets on Thursday. How did things go? Let’s take a look:
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Light day for the vets: About 45 minutes into practice, a sizable portion of both the starting offense and some of the defense went down to work separately on the lower practice fields, out of sight of the rest of us. From what we could tell, it was a relatively uneventful session for the older players, including quarterback Tom Brady. The thought process here? A lot of his older guys were a little banged up, and instead of taking the day and having everyone in shorts and shells, it was a veteran maintenance decision. Regardless, it made for an unconventional practice session when it came to gauging the overall work of many of the starters.
Good day for opportunity for youngsters: That being said, the youngsters and backups who remained got a good chance for reps in front of most of the coaching staff. (Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was on the lower fields with the others.) Several of them made the most of it, including Deatrich Wise.
You-Know-Who’s 40th Birthday: From the time he hit the top step, the whole session was pretty much a celebration of the quarterback. When he was on the field in full view of the fans, it didn’t matter what was happening — the folks who came out spent most of the morning cheering his every move and singing “Happy Birthday.” The crowd did the same after practice when Brady returned from the lower fields.
TAKING ATTENDANCE
Reserve/injured list: DL Corey Vereen.
Physically unable to perform list: LB Dont’a Hightower, DT Alan Branch.
Red non-contact jerseys: Just the quarterbacks, as usual.
Not participating: LT Nate Solder, S David Jones, S Duron Harmon, WR Malcolm Mitchell, WR Matthew Slater, RB Mike Gillislee, TE James O’Shaughnessy.
Visitors: Owner Robert Kraft.
DRESS CODE
Full pads.
THREE UP
Rookie OTs Conor McDermott and Tony Garcia: Both stood out in 1-on-1 drills against opposing defensive linemen. Neither will start ahead of Solder or Marcus Cannon, but they were among the backups who took advantage of the chance for extra reps, and both did well with their opportunity.
DE Trey Flowers: Dominated in his 1-on-1 sessions. It was against younger and inexperienced talent, but it really underscored how far he’s come. At one point, he really jacked up young offensive lineman Jason King.
S Jason Thompson: Had multiple pass breakups against the backup signal callers. Another one who made the most of his extra reps on Thursday.
THREE DOWN
OT Cameron Fleming: With Solder not around, LaAdrian Waddle stepped in and was the starting left tackle in the walkthrough reps ahead of Fleming. He got some initial reps this summer as a backup left tackle, but has since bumped to the right side. One veteran who could be feeling the heat in the push for a roster spot this summer.
DE Kony Ealy: Had to run a lap after he jumped in 1-on-1 drills. Continues what has been an underwhelming start to his New England career.
The backup defense: Forced to run a pair of laps for perceived infractions.
ONE-ON-ONE REPORT
(Disclaimer: I’m no Greg A. Bedard — and I’m certain I missed a couple of matchups — but here’s how things shook out from my perspective on Thursday.)
DL Win Loss
Darius Kilgo 2 0
Deatrich Wise 2 0
Trey Flowers 2 0
Malcolm Brown 1 0
Josh Augusta 1 1
Vincent Valentine 1 2
Woodrow Hamilton 1 2
Kony Ealy 0 1
Derek Rivers 0 1
Harvey Langi 0 2
Geneo Grissom 0 2
OL Win Loss
Brian Ferentz 2 0
Tony Garcia 2 0
Conor McDermott 2 1
Ted Karras 2 1
LaAdrian Waddle 2 1
Cameron Fleming 1 0
Jamil Douglas 1 1
Max Rich 1 2
Shaq Mason 0 1
Jason King 0 1
QB REPORT
Brady was on the lower field, pretty much out of sight, so we can’t tabulate his completion rate for the session. By our count, Garoppolo was 22-for-37 with an interception, and was 6-for-12 with a interception in 11-on-11 work. (We are willing to give him a little leeway on one of the picks, however, as it appeared that it was a drill that might have been designed for him to throw an interception. Honestly, we’re not 100 percent sure.) Jacoby Brissett was 19-for-28 with an interception overall (Eric Rowe) and 8-for-12 with a pick in 11-on-11s.
QUICK HITS
- Garoppolo and Jacob Hollister had an impressive connection up the left seam that went for a touchdown.
- Austin Carr had a nice catch in a goal-line drill and was hammered, but he managed to hold on and pop up without an incident.
- D.J. Foster made a one-handed grab on a ball from Brissett during 1-on-1 drills.
- Drops: Dion Lewis, Carr, Matt Lengel and James Develin.