FOXBOROUGH — The Patriots got some really good injury news before practice as tight end Hunter Henry, center David Andrews and linebacker Chase Winovich all were on the fields behind Gillette Stadium.
And then practice started, and New England appeared to suffer another loss.
Tight end Jonnu Smith got tangled up in a half-speed drill done mostly for the benefit of a defensive back trying to work on high-pointing the ball, suffered a lower body injury and left the field. The seriousness of the injury was not immediately known, but it didn't appear to be all that major.
Still, with Henry getting back on the field coming back from a shoulder injury, it appeared we were getting closer to seeing Henry and Smith on the field at the same time — which is why the Patriots are paying them a combined $25 million annually.
With Smith likely out this week, we'll have to see if that happens the following week against the Giants.
Andrews back after an addition
He may have been sporting a bandage on his right hand, but the Patriots' pivot was back the middle of the line for the first time since becoming a father — James Ford Andrews was born the day Andrews was injured in camp.
"(Wife Mackenzie) was actually induced, so we didn't really know what was going to happen," Andrews said. "She was like 10 days late, I think? Or something. So like I said, we had this practice, I was pretty frustrated coming off the field, just didn't think I'd had a very good day. And just frustrated. And I get in, and I have a couple missed calls from her. So I'm like, 'Oh Lord.' But I knew she had people's numbers to call me if anything ever happened, so I just didn't know what it was.
"She called me, and it was probably 6:05, and she was like, 'We got to be at the hospital at 8. They're going to induce me.' I was like just a totally different mood change. It was kind of a whirlwind there for a couple hours, and it seemed like when we got to the hospital it was a bunch of 'hurry up and wait' for a while. But definitely, life-changing experience, and I don't know. I don't really know how to explain it."
Bourne could have been an Eagle
Kendrick Bourne revealed that he was recruited by the Eagles in free agency, but never really considered them.
"I actually kind of was recruited by them in free agency," he said. "Not even close. This was my first priority. The Patriots showed me the most love and the most interest, and they paid the most.”
Belichick on the Eagles
"They got a lot of good players up front for sure," Belichick said. "They got good pass rushers. They got some big guys, athletic guys, so they got a good front. It's similar to Washington in terms of good players in those positions.
"Obviously different players, but we'll see how we do. I'm sure that they're evolving in what they're doing, so what they played against Pittsburgh, what we'll see may be the same thing. They may add to their scheme a little bit. I don't know. We'll see. Whatever it is, it will be good for us, as coaches, to see it, adjust to it, make some adjustments on the field on Monday and Tuesday when the practices are a little bit different. Whatever we see it'd be kind of like a game. You'd have to recognize it, and after that series adjust to it. Figure out what you want to do if you need to do something to handle a formation or something they're doing or a blitz that they run or something like that offensively. You have to see that, so that's good. We don't keep seeing the same stuff over and over from our offense, and some of our plays, some of our periods are scripted, so we kind of know what's coming just so we can pick the matchup that we want to coach off of, but this is more of a game-like situation from that standpoint. It'll be good for all of us.
Practice notes
On the field, Cam Newton was firmly entrenched with the 1s in a very light practice that focused on corrections and getting familiar with the Eagles, whom New England will practice against at 10 a.m. Monday and Tuesday.
Each QB had a highlight toss: Newton 35 yards over the top to Nelson Agholor, and Mac Jones with a pump-and-go to N'Keal Harry.
Not at practice: Lawrence Guy, Myles Bryant, Nick Folk. Quinn Nordin was 5 of 5 on his kicks.