FOXBOROUGH — An overcast day turned into a rainy day for the Patriots in front of a smaller-than-expected Saturday crowd.
A lot went on, lets get to it:
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Receivers on the mend: Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan and Danny Amendola were all back taking part fully in practice, which seemed to up the execution level a bit. It was getting really ragged there for a while.
Duron Harmon returns: Safety Duron Harmon also returned to practice so we got to see a little more of what the Patriots plan to do in the secondary. It seems that they’re moving more towards having three interchangeable players out there (they say that they do that already, but they really don’t) because we’ve seen Patrick Chung playing a lot in space (in the past, this has not been ideal), while all three, including Devin McCourty, have rotated in as another linebacker in the middle of the field.
Rain down on me: It rained at a decent clip throughout the second half of practice, which you know Bill Belichick loved. Execution was OK, considering the conditions.
TAKING ATTENDANCE
Reserve/injured list: DL Corey Vereen.
Physically unable to perform list: LB Dont’a Hightower, DT Alan Branch, OT Andrew Jelks (NFI).
Red non-contact jerseys: Just the quarterbacks, as usual.
Not participating: LT Nate Solder, S David Jones, WR Malcolm Mitchell, WR Matthew Slater, RB Mike Gillislee, RB Rex Burkhead, TE James O’Shaughnessy.
Returned to practice: WR, Julian Edelman, WR Danny Amendola, WR Chris Hogan, S Duron Harmon, LG Joe Thuney.
New injuries: None.
DRESS CODE
Full pads.
TOP PLAYS
- WR Devin Lucien continued to standout when he hauled in a deep pass down the left sideline from Jimmy Garoppolo against Cyrus Jones.
- On consecutive plays, DE Deatrch Wise beat LT LaAdrian Waddle and got in the face of Tom Brady to force quick throwaways.
- More of a bad Garoppolo pass than great defensive play, but Nate Ebner picked off a pass intended for Tony Washington.
- Eric Rowe had great downfield coverage on a Jacoby Brissett pass for Washington.
- Rob Gronkowski had a false start, and as everything with Gronk, it was a spectacular false start. Not only did he jump before everyone else did, he carried on 10 yards down the field before he realized he was the only one off the line of scrimmage. He finished his penalty lap to big cheers from the crowd.
- Waddle again got most of the first-team LT snaps without Solder and ahead of Cam Fleming.
- Interesting to see David Harris and Elandon Roberts paired together at ILB. Kyle Van Noy replaced Harris in passing situations.
- Shea McClellin, Wise and Harvey Langi all got into the mix at LDE/OLB.
- Eric Rowe got the first snaps at third corner.
- DT Adam Butler continues to be impressive. The best young interior pass rusher. Little weak against the run.
- RB LeShun Daniels also continues to stand out. Really nice balance and feel for the hole.
- The offense worked against cards at one point. That means the defense was giving the offense a look for another team. Could be the Jaguars or some work for the opener against the Chiefs. Appeared to be the Jaguars.
- Patriots have been doing a lot of work with their play-action game. Today was really heavy with that. Speaks to the emphasis coming on the run game.
- C David Andrews and LG Joe Thuney did a great job opening a huge hole for Dion Lewis.
- All of the quarterbacks continue to hold the ball a long time. On one play, Garoppolo completed a lass to Lucien but Vincent Valentine and Geneo Grissom had pressure.
- DB Jason Thompson made another play, this time busting through in goal line for a tackle at the line.
- Jonathan Jones booted a kickoff but picked it up in time for the return.
- Brady struggled near the end of practice and appeared frustrated at one point with the route Brandin Cooks ran.
- James Ferentz snapped at ball at Garoppolo’s ankles that the QB recovered.
- Brady doinked a sideline wheel route off the helmet of Van Noy. Pass was intended for White.
- Devin McCourty easily broke up a pass to Washington that was late and soft from Garoppolo.
- Patriots did some situational work, namely “3rd-and-10 with no timeouts before halftime.”