FOXBOROUGH — Practice No. 2 took place this morning without a certain older quarterback taking part (no, not Scott Zolak). Let's run it down:
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
No Brady: Tom Brady was in attendance but showed up late and without his pads and helmet. According to a source, it was just a rest day. He stayed active during practice and on the field the entire time. Was in great spirits, had his trademark water bottle (#hydration) and didn't seem to have any glaring physical ailment. Brady went through a stretch of camp last year where he barely took part. Maybe the Patriots liked it and just decided to mix in some off days. Practice ramps up Saturday and Sunday with pads on.
Welcome to New England, Rook: First-round pick N'Keal Harry got his official welcome to training camp when, at one point, he lined up in the wrong place on consecutive plays. After the first, the offense reset and lined up again. When Harry again wasn't in the right place, Bill Belichick waved the offense off and made the entire unit (including coaches) run a lap. After that, Belichick called the team in and spoke to them at length.
Has Jarrett Stidham turned a corner?: Largely through the offseason practices and the first camp practice, fourth-round QB Jarrett Stidham has largely been ... not good. He's constantly been late with just about every pass, he has no idea what the defense is doing, and has very little anticipation. On Friday, that continued in the early going as Stidham was ... terrible, going 2 of 7 with two awful interceptions. That being said, when the practice turned to more 11-on-11 work, Stidham completed 8 of 10 passes, including his final four and he threw some beauties: a nice back-corner toss to Maurice Harris, a nice wheel route to James White on an iffy pick play and a few other nice throws into coverage.
TAKING ATTENDANCE
Reserve/retired: C Brian Schwenke.
Physically unable to perform list: OT Cole Croston, DB Nate Ebner, RB Sony Michel, WR Demaryius Thomas, DB Ken Webster, DE Deatrich Wise.
Non-football injury list: WR Julian Edelman, OT Yodny Cajuste.
Red non-contact jerseys: S Patrick Chung (left shoulder) and the QBs.
Returned to practice: DE Deatrich Wise (very limited).
Out: QB Tom Brady, DE Michael Bennett, C David Andrews.
Limited: OT Isaiah Wynn.
New injuries: DT Byron Cowart (unknown).
DRESS CODE
Shells.
LENGTH OF PRACTICE
1:45.
QB STATS
Tom Brady: Did not practice.
Brian Hoyer: 18 of 24 overall (9 of 12 in 11-on-11).
Jarrett Stidham: 10 of 17, 2 INTs (8 of 10 in 11-on-11).
Note: I do not have the number of reps that some other writers have because I do not count when the offense is "working off cards." Those are plays when an assistant coach literally brings out a play on a card and shows it to one side of the ball. They are not running their own plays so since there are so many x-factors — including the receiver running the right route, and blockers executing correctly — so I do not count those reps.
HANDS TEAM
Fumbles: None.
Drops: Braxton Berrios, Stephen Anderson.
Pass breakups: Jason McCourty, Terrence Brooks, Obi Melifonwu.
Interception: Dawson (Stidham), D. McCourty (Stidham).
TOP PLAYS
- Lance Kendricks made a nice diving catch of a low Stidham pass.
- J. McCourty breaking up a pass from Stidham to Phillip Dorsett.
- TE Matt LaCosse had a great seam catch in traffic at the goal line on a Gronk pattern. Not bad at all.
- Hoyer looked like he just won the Super Bowl after connecting with Dorsett on a deep-post touchdown that burned Joejuan Williams.
- The back-corner throw (very late) to Harris from Stidham.
For now, there's a punting competition going on between the incumbent, Ryan Allen, and fifth-round challenger, Jake Bailey, so we're going to cover the hell out of it because Bedard's a nerd like that.
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Thoughts:
- Yes, Bailey had one "shank" but he also had three punts with over 5 seconds of hangtime, including one at 5.42 seconds that seemingly was never going to come down. Allen's high was 4.4 seconds.
- Bailey was a little inconsistent with direction, but it's something that can likely be tweaked. It's early.
- A big development: Bailey held on field goals today. Last year, it took forever for UDFA Corey Bojorquez to get a chance to hold. Bailey got his on the second day.
- Punt returners: Berrios, Chung, Harry, Olszewski.
THREE UP
WR Maurice Harris: Thought he was terrific with several nice catches. You know what stands out about him? He plucks the ball out of the air with his hands, and he does so very quietly. Really nice hands.
CB J.C. Jackson: Continues to provide lock-down coverage when he gets a chance and appeared to take some of Jason McCourty's snaps with the starters.
WR Phillip Dorsett: Old reliable had another productive day and shows no signs of slowing down.
THREE DOWN
WR Braxton Berrios: He's in his second season, has the slot all to himself with no Julian Edelman, and Berrios has barely been noticeable. Had a drop today too.
CB Joejuan Williams: Got roasted by Dorsett for a touchdown and on a few other passes. Needs to start picking it up.
WR N'Keal Harry: Two days in and he's already drawn the ire of Belichick, caused everyone to run a lap and get a bitch-out session from the HC. Still, the dude can play.
QUICK HITS
- Hoyer is the king of checkdowns.
- Melifonwu appeared to get some time with the starters as the Patriots mixed and matched on defense.
- Stephon Gilmore would have been flagged for PI against Berrios if there were officials.
- Nice slot blitz from Patrick Chung. Ja'Whaun Bentley was too late on his dog blitz.
- Jerod Mayo continues to be very involved, from playcalls to coaching up players after plays.
- Starting offensive line, from left: Joe Thuney, James Ferentz, Ted Karras, Shaq Mason, Marcus Cannon.
- Backups: Dan Skipper, (new guy), Tyler Gauthier, Tyree St. Louis, Cedrick Lang.
- Nice diving breakup by Kyle Van Noy.
- The subpackage safety/linebacker role is legit to the point that the Patriots have a pecking order: Patrick Chung, Brandon King, Terez Hall.
- King had a nice sack on an eventual Stidham completion.