FOXBOROUGH — After a light day on Thursday, the Patriots took the field and held an intrasquad scrimmage on Friday. Things ramped up a little bit more. What did we see?
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Jimmy Garoppolo had a bad day: OK, so this is now becoming an issue. Chris Price will have more below in QB Report, but overall Garoppolo was not good. As in, "14-for-36 not good." You can excuse some of it because he was playing with the third-string offensive line and inexperienced skill players, but that only goes so far. He had a handful of passes where he and the receiver (even a veteran like Dion Lewis) weren't close to the same page. Typical of his day was a play in the red zone: He had Tony Washington coming across the middle in the end zone on an in cut. Instead of firing the ball in, Garoppolo threw a soft, finesse pass that allowed Kenny Moore plenty of time to step in front of and knock away.
Contested positions: Add right guard to mix of contested positions as Ted Karras rotated with Shaq Mason in the scrimmage. It appears that the Patriots are going to play their best five on the line, and that Karras is competing at both center against David Andrews and right guard. Other rotations we noticed: third corner (Eric Rowe and then Jonathan Jones), back up left tackle (LaAdrian Waddle, then Cam Fleming), left end (Deatrich Wise, Harvey Langi).
Wise is a beast: Another trending player who is getting harder to dismiss because it's still early in camp is Wise. He's just been all over the place making plays and none of it seems too much from him. He's becoming a real force and is headed towards a starting spot if the season started tomorrow. (One of our favorite moments? When he appeared to draw someone offsides, he celebrated with what looked like a series of karate or kung-fu moves. Topping off his morning, Wise, Trey Flowers and Derek Rivers were among the last on the practice field, working as a trio on pass rush moves.)
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, with the specialists thrown in. (Don't hit these guys in the scrimmage, fellas.)
Not participating: LT Nate Solder, S David Jones, S Duron Harmon, WR Malcolm Mitchell, WR Matthew Slater, RB Mike Gillislee, RB Rex Burkhead, TE James O’Shaughnessy, WR Julian Edelman, WR Chris Hogan.
New injuries: LG Joe Thuney left with a member of the medical staff.
DRESS CODE
Full pads.
TOP PLAYS
- Brandin Cooks somehow came up with a Brady pass against Stephon Gilmore where it appeared the ball was on Gilmore's back or helmet.
- Jacoby Brissett with a 50-yard bomb down the left sideline to Lucien for a touchdown over Will Likely.
- Elandon Roberts blowing up Dion Lewis on a run. At least somebody wants to hit.
- Deatrich Wise getting credit for a strip sack. He's been tough to block for everyone.
- Josh McDaniels ran the white Brady/Brissett squad, while Matt Patricia ran the blue. Bill Belichick acted as referee and even barked out score updates.
- Final score was Team Brady/Brissett 20, Team Garoppolo 12.
- Sacks: Lawrence Guy, Adam Butler, Wise (two). Could argue would-be sacks: Shea McClellin, Kyle Van Noy, Trey Flowers.
- Eric Rowe opened as third corner over Jonathan Jones.
- David Harris and Kyle Van Noy platooned next to McClellin. Roberts and Jonathan Freeney were second-team linebackers.
- Lucien had a nice downfield block on a Brady pass to James White.
- Cyrus Jones held Austin Carr on a play that would have been a big touchdown from Garoppolo.
- Jacob Hollister had a nice block to pop a big run by Lewis.
- Geneo Grissom got held by Conor McDermott.
- Darius Kilgo penetrated to stop a 4th-and-short conversion.
- Jonathan Jones had a nice tackle of White that stopped a third-down conversion.
- Gilmore broke up a Brady pass to Cooks.
- Devin McCourty had a tackle for a loss against D.J. Foster.
- Harris got in Brady's face when White was slow to pick up the blitz.
- D.J. Killings looked to come up with an interception of a Garoppolo pass to Lucien but it was ruled incomplete.
- Lewis had his best day of camp. Looked quick and explosive again.
- Stop the presses: Kony Ealy had a QB pressure.
- Punter Ryan Allen had one nice punt that went out of bounds inside the 5, but he again had a few terrible kicks.
- S Demarius Travis showed up a lot in coverage.
- Hollister had a catchable ball from Garoppolo go off his pads on a nice throw. Should have been caught.
- Caleb Kidder generated consistent pressure.
- DT Adam Butler continues to show something in the pass rush and got looks with the starting subpackage.
- Washington and Moore had a great battle for a deep sideline pass that fell incomplete.
- Gostkowski missed a mid-range field goal.
- Wise stood up Karras in the backfield on a Bolden run.
- LBs Trevor Bates and Brooks Ellis have flashed at times, especially Bates. Good player. Recovered the fumble on a fumbled snap by Brissett
- Garoppolo threw a sloppy pass up for grabs that could have been intercepted by either Justin Coleman or Jason Thompson.
- Playlist: Lots of classic rock, with an emphasis on live tracks. (Maybe that's because there's more noise?) U2, Dave Matthews, AC/DC, Bon Jovi and Living Colour highlighted the morning.
