Emptying out the notebook: Six assorted Patriots’ training-camp thoughts

With the off-day on Monday, here are six camp-related thoughts about the Patriots we haven’t been able to wedge into a roundup and/or notebook to this point in the summer.


1. Braxton Berrios is looking like he’s going to force the Patriots into a tough decision. If he continues on his current ascent — and we really won’t know where he is as a player until the preseason games — Berrios could be one of those guys at the end of the summer who might be too good to get through to the practice squad (remember, the practice squadders have to survive the waiver process), but not good enough to secure a regular spot on the 53-man roster. What’s working for him? His punt return skills, which could ultimately tilt things in his favor when it comes to the back end of the depth chart. But right now, it’s looking like a Berrios/Riley McCarron battle for one of the final spots on the 53-man.

2. Cordarrelle Patterson is a willing blocker, and has been better than many expected. The Patriots have started running a drill this summer where they have some guys do some blocking in space and ballcarriers try and run off those blocks. There are three different lines, and one of them has wide receivers. Every time Patterson has been involved with those drills, he’s been a willing blocker who hasn’t been afraid of contact. It’s a good sign — you’re not going to get on the field in New England as a receiver if you aren’t a willing blocker. Just another plus in Patterson’s favor.

3. There are players who need to start displaying some urgency. Both Bill Belichick and Tom Brady have said on multiple occasions that this is the time of the summer where “The train is leaving the station.” Installation is taking place. Reps are starting to become more important. And the regular season is starting to get closer every day. That being the case, there are guys who are on the PUP and are in theoretical positional battles (Cyrus Jones, Jonathan Jones) that need to start showing up on the practice field. To paraphrase Yogi Berra, it’s getting late early.

4. Danny Shelton has exceeded expectations early. We hit on some of this last week, but he’s really fit in well in the early going. Shelton seemed sour out of the gate in camp, explaining it initially “sucked” the team didn’t pick up his fifth-year option. He also seemed not enthused about the Patriots’ conditioning program. But in the weeks-plus of camp, he’s been the most physically dominant defensive tackle on the roster. Greg has some more details here on his work in one-on-one, but the biggest surprise is the boost he’s been able to show when it comes to pass rushing situations. Not sure that’s what New England is going to be looking for consistently — that’s more of a two-gap role, at least traditionally — but it’s another thing that has been a real surprise.

5. Stephen Gostkowski is going to be the kicker for this team. I know this isn’t breaking news, but I feel like we really haven’t talked about it at this point in the summer. There are two types of Patriots’ fans — pro-Gostkowski and anti-Gostkowski. There’s no middle ground. And the pro-Gostkowski types are going to win this round. There’s no other kicker in camp. You never say never, but at this point, it doesn’t appear there will be another kicker in camp. That means the job is his — occasional banana balls and all — at least for the foreseeable future.

Two more notes on Gostkowski: one, I know Belichick is never going to be a guy who throws his players under the bus. But for him to go on and on … and on about Gostkowski at the start of camp was especially striking. “Steve's a good example for all of us; all players and coaches. He's got a very professional attitude,” Belichick said. “He's a good teammate, but he works hard at his job, to do his job well to help the team, and that's really the motto for all of us – to be good teammates, but to do our jobs so everybody can count on us and put everything we have into it to be able to help the team. He certainly does that.”

And two, I’ll repeat this stat from the guys from Football Outsiders: last year, a league-leading 35 kickoffs were caught between the 1 and the 10. (By percentage, the Patriots tied the Bengals for the league lead at 36 percent). Thirteen of these 35 kickoffs had returns tackled at or behind the 20, while none were advanced past the 31. Very few kickers are as adept at popping up kickoffs like Gostkowski.

6. This has been a more relaxed camp than the last few years. Part of it is because there are no joint practices, which change the energy and force a bit of a hurry-up when it comes to installation of schemes on both sides of the ball. (The theory is you don’t want to waste the other teams’ time when they arrive for joint workouts, so it can be a bit of a race to get everyone up to speed and ready for game action by the time the teams start working together. Without joint practices, there can be more work on specific areas of need.) But with a more gradual build, you can have more days like Saturday, where it was a glorified walkthrough in pads. You can have an extra day off here and there. Of course, no joint practices will also mean more time for starters in the preseason. And we’ll see how it all translates when the regular season begins. But at least publicly, it’s been pretty laid-back for the Patriots to this point in the summer.