WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — With a light rain threatening on and off, the Patriots and Texans squared off in a physical practice at The Greenbrier on Tuesday morning.
Let’s take a look at how things went:
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Patriots didn’t look good, and Brady wasn’t happy: From special teams blocking drills and line one-on-ones to 11-on-11s, the Patriots mostly had a rough time against the Texans, and you could make the argument that they were pushed around a little bit. Tom Brady finally had enough at one point and was screaming at his offensive mates. The Patriots picked it up a little to finish practice. "That’s just Tom being Tom," said Julian Edelman. "When you’ve got a leader that wants to go out and practice at the ultimate, highest level, when something that you should do doesn’t go right, there’s going to be a little fire under that and that’s what you need from your leader. That’s just Tommy being Tommy."
Stephon Gilmore, Brandin Cooks didn’t participate in 11-on-11s: The cornerback and receiver were on the field and in uniform, but did not take part much in the practice. Not sure of the reasons for either. Both practiced on Monday in Foxborough and appeared fine. Eric Rowe took Gilmore’s place as the right corner. Chris Hogan saw an uptick in reps.
Texans without two stars: Outside of Gilmore and Dont’a Hightower, the Patriots had most of their stars on the field, including the fivesome of Brady, Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski, Chris Hogan and Danny Amendola. While J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus were on the field (and wreaking havoc against the Patriots’ offensive line), the Texans did not have Jadeveon Clowney and DeAndre Hopkins.
TAKING ATTENDANCE
Reserve/injured list: DL Corey Vereen.
Physically unable to perform list: LB Dont’a Hightower, OT Andrew Jelks (NFI).
Red non-contact jerseys: QBs, WR Cody Hollister, DB Damarius Travis.
Not participating: LT Nate Solder, WR Matthew Slater, RB Mike Gillislee, LB Trevor Bates, LB Shea McClellin, OT Tony Garcia, DE Deatrich Wise, LB Keionta Davis (CBA mandated)
Returned to practice: S David Jones, TE James O’Shaughnessy, Cody Hollister,
New injuries: RB LeShun Daniels (head), OT LaAdrian Waddle (midsection).
DRESS CODE
Full pads.
TOP PLAYS
- Chris Hogan had a great diving catch from Brady against tight coverage from Treston Decoud. Hogan followed that up with a leaping catch over a defender.
- Malcolm Mitchell made a beautiful catch down the left sideline on a deep pass from Jimmy Garoppolo and over CB Robert Nelson.
- Brady to Edelman for a touchdown on the second play of upper red zone work against safety Andre Hal.
- Brady to Hogan for about 60 yards on a post pattern over a corner and safety to start a drive with the game on the line while trailing by one point.
- WR Brandin Cooks didn’t do much in this practice after one-on-ones.
- The Patriots’ receivers were almost uncoverable when they when one-on-one with the Texans’ defensive backs. Amendola, Hogan and Edelman all showed a ton of shake on their routes.
- RG Shaq Mason was tossed by DE Christian Covington in a run-blocking drill. Cam Fleming was also tossed in that drill Mercilus, and later in one-on-ones by Mercilus as well. On that one, Fleming never had good pad level and looked like he was on skates.
- Sacks allowed by Patriots: Mason vs. Watt, Waddle vs. Watt, Waddle vs. Mercilus, Cannon vs. Watt, Fleming vs. Brennan Scarlett, Watt vs. Thuney.
- Sacks/TFLs made by Patriots: Malcom Brown, Butler, Harvey Langi, Adam Butler, Kony Ealy.
- Joe Thuney split his reps on the second team between center and right guard.
- For the most part, the Texans were very handsy in the secondary. There were no officials on the field. If there were, things might have been different. Bill Belichick was probably happy the way it went.
- Derek Rivers continues to flash in the pass rush.
- This was the sequence that got Brady all ticked off: sack, sack, incomplete to Amendola, Dion Lewis tackled for a loss by Watt and John Simon, short completion to Rob Gronkowski, incomplete to Gronkowski.
- On the next series, Brady dumped one off to Bolden, in complete to Gronkowski and Edelman, and then a 12-yard completion to Edelman on third-and-11.
- The Texans didn’t do a whole lot on offense either, outside of a big catch by WR Jaelen Strong. But top pick Deshaun Watson was impressive with his calmness and how he isn’t afraid to give up on a play if it isn’t there. Nice delivery. Good arm. He’s speed also causes problems. Watson is far from a finished product, but he certainly looks capable of starting at some point.
- Cutler, Jonathan Jones, Patrick Chung, Kyle Van Noy and D.J. Killings all had pass breakups.
- S Jordan Richards continues to struggle in coverage.