NFL Notebook: How will no joint practices impact Patriots' preparation, team-building?

In this week’s NFL Notebook, we take a look at how the Patriots stack up against the rest of the league when it comes to sacks over the last five years, whether or not New England will be a player in the annual supplemental draft, and why the rookies are still sticking around Foxborough for just one more thing between now and the start of training camp. But first, we wonder just how much not having joint practices is going to change things for the Patriots this summer.


1. We know the Patriots won’t have any joint practices this summer. Not counting the 2011 lockout, it'll be the first time New England will go without joint practices since 2009. It’ll be interesting to see the impact on New England from two perspectives: One, the joint practices essentially replaced a lot of game action for veterans. In the preseason opener last year against the Jaguars, New England sat a whopping 40 players, many of them vets, and allowed some newcomers to get a shot when it came to game action. "We played a lot of guys in practice Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday against Jacksonville, so a lot of guys that are going to play for us got a lot of reps," Bill Belichick said in a pregame radio interview on 98.5 that evening. “(This game) will give us a chance to look at some of those guys that didn't get as many reps in practice, so we'll try to balance that out." Will the veterans play more in the preseason games this summer as a result? We shall see. And two, the Patriots have made a habit of poaching guys from their opponents who might have impressed in the joint practices. Not including last summer, following every joint practice in which the Patriots have participated from 2010-2016, at least one opposing player has ended up (some of them relatively briefly) in a New England uniform at some point.

2. But just because the Patriots aren’t holding any joint practices, it doesn’t mean you can’t see other teams. In fact, with the training camp schedule now set, you can start thinking about an AFC East training camp road trip. The Jets’ rookies report on July 24 and the veterans on the 26th, while the Bills’ roster (both vets and first-year players) are set to show on July 25. It’s just over 300 miles from Florham Park, New Jersey (Jets) to Rochester, New York (Bills), and 240 miles from North Jersey to Foxborough. For what it’s worth, it’s 300 miles between the Eagles and Patriots — an ambitious New England football fan can see plenty over the first two weeks of camp if they play their cards right.

3. There’s one more league event on the offseason calendar — the supplemental draft, set for July 11. There are three entrants in this year’s draft: Western Michigan cornerback Sam Beal, Virginia Tech cornerback Adonis Alexander and Mississippi State safety Brandon Bryant. It doesn’t sound like the Patriots are interested in any of them, at least at this point. New England hasn’t been all that active in the supplemental draft over the years — the Patriots have made just two supplemental picks in franchise history, J’Juan Cherry (1999) and Chy Davidson (1981).

4. You know we’ve reached peak off-season when the NFL Network is finishing up the Top 100 countdown. The finale — spots one through 10 -- are set to be revealed this week, and the big question around these parts is whether or not Tom Brady will be able to hold on to the No. 1 spot. (He has come away with the top spot twice, once last year and in 2011.) The NFL Network revealed the list, but we’ll have to wait until Monday for the final countdown. Here’s who will be in the mix: Brady, Le’Veon Bell, Drew Brees, Antonio Brown, Aaron Donald, Todd Gurley, Julio Jones, Von Miller, Aaron Rodgers and Carson Wentz.

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5. Isaiah Wynn has signed his deal, and our guy Miguel took a look at the numbers here. That means the only guy left to be signed around here is running back Sony Michel. One thing Miguel did hit on is the fact there doesn’t appear to be any real cause for concern when it comes to Michel signing his rookie deal for a few reasons. (For what it’s worth, a guy who just purchased new cars for his folks figures he’s probably going to come into a few bucks sooner rather than later.) For some historical perspective, here’s a look at the signing dates for the Patriots’ first-round picks dating back to 2010.

2015: Malcom Brown (June 19)
2014: Dominique Easley (June 23)
2012: Chandler Jones (May 23), Dont’a Hightower (July 19)
2011: Nate Solder (Aug. 4 — delayed because of the lockout)
2010: Devin McCourty (July 28)

6. This week’s statistical look back examines sacks across the league per team over the last five years. While sacks aren’t the be-all and end-all when it comes to measuring defensive pressure, when paired with things like quarterback hits, third-down defense and other totals, it can give you a pretty good idea of just how successful a pass defense can be. Here’s a look back at the last five seasons when it comes to sacks per team.

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