NOTE: Sorry for the delay. Had to jump on a plane after practice.
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NASHVILLE — The 13th and final Patriots training camp practice open to the public is in the books and it was another feisty and intense affair. Let's run it down...
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Patriots embarrass Titans in team drills: While the Titans couldn't seem to throw 10 feet without Marcus Mariota overthrowing someone, Tom Brady ripped through the Titans defense with ease. In a full team drill, he needed five plays to end with a touchdown pass to Ben Watson that even got Bill Belichick fired up. In the two-minute drill, the Patriots had two huge plays to Braxton Berrios ... but each was called back by "penalties" because the Titans defense needed more work. The Patriots were doing this without their five best receivers. Brady was dialed in, but give credit to Jakobi Meyers, Braxton Berrios, Gunner Olszewski and Watson. They balled out too.
Patriots secondary locks down Titans: It's hard to tell exactly how much of this was the Patriots providing great coverage, or the Titans' passing game just being atrocious (it is, especially without Adam Humphries) but Marcus Mariota and Ryan Tannehill just couldn't get anything going in the air, even in one-on-one red-zone work. Patriots dominated that.
It got a lot testier: There were plenty of skirmishes on Day 1, but there were more today, including a full-on battle when Stephon Gilmore had enough of A.J. Brown. The 1-on-1 drills between Patriots' defensive line and Titans offensive line had to be cut short because they get getting into it. The coaches finally had enough after scraps between Deatrich Wise-Dennis Kelly and Aaron Stinnie-Ufomba Kamalu.
TAKING ATTENDANCE
Physically unable to perform list: WR Demaryius Thomas, WR Cam Meredith.
Non-football injury list: WR Julian Edelman, OT Yodny Cajuste.
Red non-contact jerseys: Patrick Chung, and the QBs.
Returned to practice: OT Dan Skipper, LB Jamie Collins.
Out: WR N’Keal Harry (right leg), TE Matt LaCosse (left ankle), TE Stephen Anderson (unknown), WR Phillip Dorsett (hand), WR Maurice Harris (unknown).
Limited: None.
New injuries: It appeared Adam Butler went missing at one point. He had no one-on-one reps.
DRESS CODE
Full pads.
LENGTH OF PRACTICE
1:55.
QB STATS
Tom Brady: 10 of 15.
Brian Hoyer: 7 of 8.
Jarrett Stidham: 1 of 6
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: None.
Pass breakups: J.C. Jackson, Jonathan Jones, Stephon Gilmore, Jamie Collins, Duke Dawson, Jason McCourty, Dont’a Hightower.
Interceptions: None.
TOP PLAYS
- Brian Hoyer threw a beautiful low out to Gunner Olszewski, who went sliding to the turf and beat CB Kareem Orr.
- Brandon Bolden had a huge run that started over right tackle but he cutback and went for like 50 yards.
- Tom Brady playaction up top to Jakobi Meyers. Titans had a ton of problems with playaction.
- Brady up top to Braxton Berrios to the 2-yard line. They did the same in two-minute to the 5-yard line but it was called back due to penalty.
- Patriots scored a competitive touchdown when Brady found Ben Watson. As Brady came off the field, Belichick gave him a side-five.
Defense
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Offense
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Decisive victories
Chase Winovich over Tyler Marz. Just dipped around him and put on the jets.
Ted Karras over Kamalei Correa. Just stoned him.
Derek Roberson made St. Louis look bad.
Heavyweight bouts (starting-caliber players)
Cannon over Sharif Finch.
Mason draw with Jurrell Casey.
Andrews draw with DaQuan Jones.
Thuney stayed in front of Casey.
Wynn used good feet against Jayon Brown.
SHANK IT OFF
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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- There was actually one more round but I missed Allen's first two reps, so I went with the last two for each player.
- Bailey's other reps were 4.09 and 3.90.
- It again wasn't a great day for Bailey and it was probably the only day in camp where you can say Allen was better.
THREE UP
CB Duke Dawson: Had by far his best of practice as he was in on a bunch of different plays and was especially a pain to WR Kalif Raymond.
WR Braxton Berrios: Caught several big passes from Brady and probably looked like a reasonable Julian Edelman replica for the first time all camp. He even got ripped by Brady like Edelman would after a play.
WR Jakobi Meyers: Seems like all the quarterbacks, especially Brady, know that when you need a play, go to No. 16. Kid is money in the bank all the time.
THREE DOWN
Patriots run blocking: Much like the preseason opener, the Patriots' run blocking wasn't that great overall. They had a few big runs, but a lot of stuff was stopped right at the line, and the backs weren't helping.
DE Derek Rivers: Went 0 for 2 in his one-on-one reps and really didn't distinguish himself in these practices. You hardly noticed he was there, unlike Chase Winovich who again had another good joint practice.
RB Rex Burkhead: Caught a bunch of screens over these two days but none seemed to be great and he looked very hesitant in the hole on a few runs.
QUICK HITS
- Berrios had a good practice overall but that didn't stop him from getting ripped by Brady when he halted a crossing pattern.
- Terrence Brooks again got the majority of reps next to Devin McCourty, and even Jonathan Jones made an appearance there.
- Chase Winovich did a lot more moving around in this practice and encroached once trying to anticipate the snap.
- Kyle Van Noy had a tackle for a loss.
- Dion Lewis dropped a third-down pass that was on Van Noy.
- Titans only went three plays on their starting red zone drive Brady completed passes to Gunner, Berrios and then James White for a touchdown.
- Ryan Tannehill threw a touchdown to Taywan Taylor when it looked like Keion Crossen blew a coverage. Titans should have scored earlier to Darius Jennings but Tannehill's throw was awful. It bailed out Joejuan Williams, who wasn't listening to the communication from the other DBs and he failed to adjust.
- Duron Harmon had a sack on a blitz.
- CB Ken Webster, who just returned to practice, got beat around the end on a run.
- The Patriots' offense had a bunch of holding penalties throughout practice and Dante Scarnecchia was none too pleased.
- Eric Saubert caught a pass from Stidham.
- Skipper got beat twice by Harold Landry to make Brady uneasy in the pocket. On the next play, Skipper did his job, Brady stepped up and drilled a big pass to Berrios.
- Matt Cassel was on hand, as was Eric Decker and his wife, singer Jessie James Decker.
SCHEDULE
Saturday: Patriots at Titans, 7 p.m.