FOXBOROUGH — Practice No. 6 is in the books. Here's what went down:
FREE PRACTICE REPORT FROM SATURDAY.
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Things are getting iffy on the injury front: First, Mike Gillislee and Jordan Matthews (hamstring) didn't return. Gillislee was later spotted on the lower rehab field, while the latter was released. Then Marcus Cannon limped off with what appeared to be a left ankle/foot injury, followed by Sony Michel exiting. These are all pretty big injuries for players, with the exception of Cannon, who need to be on the field as much as possible. Gillislee, who had been the starting back in camp, was set back by an injury last year, and needs as much time to prove his value as possible. With Danny Amendola gone and Julian Edelman serving a four-game suspension, Matthews had a golden opportunity to grab playing time, but the Patriots had no time to wait for his serious pull. And every day a rookie like Michel misses practice, they are even further behind. Finally, Cannon, when healthy, is the best player on the offensive line. Left tackle is already a question mark, so the Patriots don't need another issue on the other side. Hopefully, this was all just temporary.
Deatrich Wise in mix for starting job: We'll have on this in a column dissecting the situation, but Wise was the starting right end over Adrian Clayborn for much of this practice. Wise became pigeon-holed as a sub rusher as his rookie season went on, and with the signing of Clayborn, it looked to be the same this season. But Wise has had a stellar camp and threatening to put Clayborn and his two-year, $10-million contract on the bench.
Good day for Brady, offense: I thought a lot of the talk about Tom Brady being rusty to start training camp was a bit overblown. I mean, even if he did show for all the offseason stuff, he was, a) still breaking in a bunch of new receivers going through install, and b) he still would have been off like everyone else for five weeks. So who wouldn't be a little rusty? I thought Brady was extremely sharp and had his best day of camp.
TAKING ATTENDANCE
Physically unable to perform list: WR Kenny Britt (leg), S Nate Ebner (knee), CB Cyrus Jones (knee), CB Jonathan Jones (Achilles), ST Matthew Slater, WR Malcolm Mitchell (knee).
- Bill Belichick had a front-row seat for today’s double session of one-on-ones.
- Two regulars are really struggling: Mason and Flowers. Not sure what to make of it. Mason has been so-so but I don't think it's injury-related. Flowers, on the other hand, hasn't looked right but this could also have to do with him switching sides this year. That takes time.
- Butler crossed John’s face and quickly sealed him off to get up the field.
- Karras and Ferentz pancaked M. Brown and Herron on back-to-back plays.
- Waddle also pancaked Van Noy, who got chippy about it. He just got beat, just like every other practice. Van Noy and Hightower are a combined 2-6-1 with three decisive losses against one win.
- Schwenke registered a decisive win over Brown on his first rep. Completely shut him down.
- Flowers finally registered a win when he had a nice arm-under against King.
- Offensive line won the day 19-14-7 with five d-wins and two losses.
- This competition could be fizzling out. Allen is starting to close the gap, plus he's getting more reps and Bojorquez still isn't holding in game situations. We'll see if Belichick lets this continue.
- Bojorquez is still the better kicker of the ball, but that may not be enough. Could maybe put him on the practice squad.
- There was a terrific connection between Brady and Edelman over Duke Dawson. Sensational play. Brady then followed that up with a great ball for Gronkowski over Chung.
- Brady tried to hit Chris Hogan (his favorite target by far) down the right sideline, but Stephon Gilmore continued his very strong camp with a pass breakup on a ball that was slightly underthrown.
- Ryan Lewis stuck with Rob Gronkowski and broke up a pass in the seam from Brian Hoyer.
- Wise put Burkhead on his rear during a running drill.
- Brady hit Dorsett on a quick out that was fiercely defended by Gilmore. Excellent job by Dorsett to fight for the ball and bring it in.
- After getting off to a slow and muted start, Gronkowski was definitely back to his old self today. We even saw our first "first-down" signal after a big catch. Either he had a really good time on the off day, or possibly something has been worked out with his contract. We received nearly the whole Gronk Experience today, so I would take that as a good sign for the fans.
- Some good half-line (center with either LG and LT, or vice versa) running drills. Isaiah Wynn and Dwyane Allen had a nice double team to the next level. Ulrick John pushed out Marquis Flowers. Trent Brown dominated Deatrich Wise and then Adrian Clayborn.
- Brandon Bolden (yes, him) made a quick cut in the hole and made Dont'a Hightower look a little silly.
- OG Matt Tobin tossed Vincent Valentine on a pass play.
- Duke Dawson still working as the slot, and LaAdrian Waddle took over for Cannon.
- With Michel and Gillislee on the shelf, Jeremy Hill got a look as the lead back. He was decent. Keeps good balance and falls forward.
- Run-heavy periods: Harvey Langi, playing a little more standup, did a nice job getting off a block and thumping Rex Burkhead in the hold. Lawrence Guy beat both Trent Brown and Joe Thuney for a sack. Adam Butler was really ticked off for some reason at one point. David Andrews turned Guy to open a hole. Dwayne Allen has been blocking well this camp.
- Stephen Gostkowski has been accurate in camp, but he missed one wide left today. Bill Belichick twice got involved on FG snaps to make Ryan Allen have to scramble. Still have not seen Corey Bojorquez hold in a competitive drill.
- First-team offense had a very successful two-minute period that led to Brady (6 for 6) excitedly head-butting Andrews several times to the point that Andrews had to push the QB off him.
- Second-team o-line: Wynn, James Ferentz, Ted Karras, John, Cole Croston.
- Belichick was very peppy during the two-minute session.
- Jason McCourty was victimized a few times in two-minute by Hoyer. He needs to pick it up before guys like Jonathan Jones and Cyrus Jones return to action.
- Nick Caserio was the QB for WR-DB one-on-ones during the opportunity period. I told Caserio he wasn't bad but I wasn't sure whether to put him in Three Up or Three Down. He laughed and said, "Make sure you chart that!"
