FOXBOROUGH — Practice No. 12 is in the books. Here's what went down:
FREE PRACTICE REPORT FROM LAST SATURDAY
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Brady had a full workload and was sharp: After basically having most of nine days off leading into Sunday's practice, Tom Brady was back in full effect in this practice and, despite the wet conditions, was 24 of 32 (75 percent) in competitive situations, including the first lengthy and competitive session of one-on-ones between receivers and cornerbacks of camp. Brady was even better when you consider that two of his incompletions were drops. Brady didn't show any ill effect from his reported sore back. His 32 competitive attempts were equal to what he did in the previous 10 days combined. Brady's banner day pushed him to 83 of 117 for camp (70.9 percent).
Cue the music...
Bentley, Jones get into the mix: Rookie LB Ja'Whaun Bentley was one player who jumped out in Thursday's preseason game and the coaches must have liked what they saw because he was fully in the mix with the starters today. Now, there was a heavy rotation going on between Bentley, Elandon Roberts, Kyle Van Noy and Dont'a Hightower, but there's no question Bentley was heavily mixing with the starters and was even calling plays. ... CB Jonathan Jones, who is coming back from foot surgery after the Titans playoff game, was a full go at practice today and basically reclaimed his place as the top nickel cornerback (over rookie Duke Dawson). Jones showed he's close to being back when he had great coverage against Julian Edelman in 1-on-1s.
Competition at left tackle is all but over: We thought that left tackle would be one of the best battles of camp — between veteran Trent Brown, first-round pick Isaiah Wynn and perhaps Marcus Cannon — but it was more like a knockout by Trent Brown, who started there Day 1 and hasn't budged. Wynn was moved to right tackle for this practice — he had been at left up until now — and even got a few looks with the starters. Cannon continues to be out and you have to wonder if/when he'll be back, and whether he'll have a job when he returns.
TAKING ATTENDANCE
Physically unable to perform list: None.
Red non-contact jerseys: Just the QBs.
Not participating: OT Marcus Cannon (left ankle/foot), RB Sony Michel (unknown), LB Harvey Langi (chest), RB Rex Burkhead.
Rehab: DE Trey Flowers, OL Jason King.
Returned to practice: S Jordan Richards.
New injuries: None.
Limited: CB Cyrus Jones (knee), WR Kenny Britt (leg).
Full go: CB Jason McCourty.
- Brady hit Gronkowski on a nice back-shoulder pass in the seam over Hightower, who didn't know the ball was coming. Good coverage. Better pass.
- Great catch by Braxton Berrios on a deep post from Hoyer. Berrios laid out, landed on the ball but still hung on.
- Nice catch along the sidelines by Cordarrelle Patterson, who plucked it over Jason McCourty and got two feet down.
- Brady and Hoyer each wore gloves on their left hands in the wet conditions. Etling did not.
- Clayborn tossed Matt Tobin in 2-on-2s with tackles and tight ends. Geneo Grissom beat Rob Gronkowski. Ryan Izzo beat Clayborn. Will Tye and Hollister had nice reps. Tye was tossed by Clayborn. Allen beat Eric Lee.
- Some heavy run periods and the running game was effective, led by starter Jeremy Hill. Mike Gillislee had a couple big runs.
- At one point, Hightower got his hands on the DTs to move them into the right place.
- Keionta Davis got a lot of reps in place of Trey Flowers in both regular and sub.
- Elandon Roberts thumped Ralph Webb on a run.
- Belichick gave Nicholas Grigsby a fist bump after a scout team rep.
- Luke Bowanko rotated in as second-team center with James Ferentz and Ted Karras. Ferentz slid in the middle of the field during a broken play, I think, to keep from being flagged for illegal man downfield. A heads-up play.
- Clayborn and Lee (vs. James Develin) each had sacks in 11-on-11s.
- Karras has a really weird stance when blocking for field goals. It's yoga-esque.
- Bentley had a TFL on a running play where Hoyer signaled for someone to block him and no one did.
- Dante Scarnecchia could be heard several times yelling, 'Let's go!!!' during 11-on-11s. The pace and intensity was better today but not a sea change.