FOXBOROUGH — Practice No.1 is in the books, let's run down all you need to know: all the stats, 3 up/down and odds and ends:
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Mac Jones is coming: I don't really care what the final stats were, or any of the stats to be honest with you. If camp stats are your thing, remember what was said about Jarrett Stidham's rookie year stats. All I know is this: there was one quarterback on the field Wednesday that, on a vast majority of his reps, threw with anticipation, timing, touch and accuracy, and that quarterback was first-round pick Mac Jones. And it wasn't really close. Jones had some beautiful timing throws in a practice that dealt mostly with low red zone work and was clearly sort of a refresher on the first day. There was a corner route to Nelson Agholor. There was a throw to Sony Michel in traffic in the middle of the field that had no business being completed. A corner route to Kendrick Bourne was spectacular. A touch pass to Matt LaCosse, another to Marvin Hall, and a ridiculous laser to the back corner of the end zone to Gunner Olszewski. Jones even made N'Keal Harry look good. Cam Newton was fine. He had a couple of nice throws, he also had two interceptions — one off a drop by James White, and another that was just a terrible throw behind Hunter Henry. Much more on all this in a bit. But Day 1 clearly went to Jones and on the scorecard it was a 10-8 round.
Slow ramp-up to camp: We all know that training camp has changed forever and it's not coming back — I kind of miss the three-a-days in pads — so it was no surprise that Wednesday's session was at a slower pace for the most part. Patriots went for about two hours, but there was a lot of special teams and a lot of red zone drills. The offense-defense was fairly competitive in the red zone — passing and pass defense doesn't change all that much so you can get good reps in while waiting four practices to get into pads and work on line play and tackling — but everything was spaced out and there was some good teaching going on.
Trent Brown, Kyle Van Noy quickly off PUP: It was good to see that both vets were back at practice. Trent Brown was a full go — usually an indicator he needed another attempt to pass the conditioning test; happens all the time. But Van Noy was in a red non-contact jersey, but took part. Thought it was very cool, and a good lesson for young athletes, that Van Noy spent most of his time taking mental reps while also doing his footwork coming off the ball. The little things make you a good pro.
(Adam Richins for BSJ)
TAKING ATTENDANCE
Physically unable to perform list: CB Stephon Gilmore (quad), QB Jarrett Stidham, DE Chase Winovich, LB Terez Hall, DT Byron Cowart, LB Brandon King, TE Dalton Keene.
Non-football injury list: RB Rhamondre Stevenson, LB Cameron McGrone (knee), S Joshuah Bledsoe (wrist).
Red non-contact jerseys: QBs, LB Kyle Van Noy.
Returned to practice: OT Trent Brown, Van Noy.
Full participants: Brown.
Out: None.
Limited: TE Jonnu Smith, WR Jakobi Meyers (don't remember either doing much of anything so I'm left to wonder).
New injuries: None.
Note: Gilmore was on the field for the balance of practice watching and looked good.
DRESS CODE
Full pads.
LENGTH OF PRACTICE
2 hours under cloudy and occasionally drizzling skies.
(Adam Richins for BSJ)
QB STATS
Cam Newton: 8 of 15, 2 INTs, 1 Drop.
Mac Jones: 10 of 19, 4 Drops.
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: Jones (handoff).
Drops: Devin Ross 2, James White (INT), Agholor, LaCosse.
Pass breakups: Hightower, Jalen Mills, Michael Jackson, Kyle Dugger, Adrian Phillips 2,
Interception: Raekwon McMillan (Newton off White drop), Phillips (Newton behind Hunter Henry).
TOP PLAYS
- Cam Newton had a beautiful low to the left sideline in the end zone to N'Keal Harry, who made a nice sliding catch.
- Mac Jones threw perfect corner passes to Nelson Agholor, Kendrick Bourne and Gunner Olszewski that could not be defended due to the timing, route and touch.
- Michael Jackson had a great pass breakup on a good Jones pass to Marvin Hall. Good pass, better defensive play.
- Jones had a great little touch pass for a touchdown to Matt LaCosse that led him into open space.
WORST PLAY
Newton's interception to Hunter Henry. First of all, he took forever in the pocket, rolled to right and then threw across his body and behind Henry, who never had a chance.
SHANK IT OFF
Nick Folk got the only live FG attempts and he appeared to be 4 for 4 and from some distance. The height wasn't great, but the kicks were effective.
(Adam Richins for BSJ)
THREE UP
S Adrian Phillips: Was a complete pain in the end to the tight ends as he broke up two passes and had an interception.
QB Mac Jones: There's a long way to go but if this is any indication of what he has in store for the rest of camp — rookies will always have a bad day here and there — then Cam Newton has his hands full. Jones, for the most part, continues to gain ground and improve with every practice.
WR Kendrick Bourne: Seemed to be the most consistent of the targets, which appeared to be missing Jonnu Smith and Jakobi Meyers. Brings great energy, ran good routes and is very quick. A good start.
THREE DOWN
WR Devin Ross: Had at least two drops and appeared to run a wrong route once.
RB James White: A pass-heavy practice but he didn't get many reps and dropped a pass for an INT that got him a penalty lap.
QB Jarrett Stidham: He better be seriously hurt because, in my NFL experience, it's extremely rare for a QB to not be on the field and taking mental reps when hurt. Stidham was nowhere to be found.
(Adam Richins for BSJ)
QUICK HITS
- The return of fans to the stands was great to see and it upped the intensity level of practice.
- Robert Kraft was on hand for the entire practice.
- Yodny Cajuste got reps at left tackle, but there was a lot of switching all over the place.
- Michael Jackson is still getting the increased reps without Stephon Gilmore on the field.
- The cornerbacks wore padded mittens for the majority of practice.
- Ja'Whaun Bentley is benefitting from Van Noy being out.
- Myles Bryant got some quality time with the starters in red zone defense.
- Olszewski and Dugger returned kickoffs.
- Odd that I don't have any attempts to Smith and Meyers. Smith was definitely on the field and taking part.
SCHEDULE
Thursday: 9:45 a.m. (helmets).
Friday: 9:45 a.m. (shells).
Saturday: 9:45 a.m. (shells).
Sunday: OFF
Monday: TBA (pads).