FOXBOROUGH — Practice No. 16 is in the books for the Patriots, let's run down all you need to know: all the stats, key drives, 3 up/down and odds and ends:
TWO THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Cam Newton out until at least Thursday due to COVID protocols: Look, I doubt that the Patriots' statement is 100 percent truthful. I think they're doing Cam Newton a solid and covering for him, like he has done with them over the course of the last year. Newton left town and likely thought his testing would be good enough. It's on him that it isn't. And he deserves whatever the fallout is, including losing his job if Jones takes the starter reps and runs with them. I will say this, I believe now that Newton's status will force the Patriots to keep three quarterbacks, if they don't release Newton before the season. This could happen again at any time.
A bunch of veterans return to practice, but not Hunter Henry: The Patriots received good news as TE Jonnu Smith, DL Lawrence Guy, K Nick Folk and LS Joe Cardona all returned to practice. Smith and Folk were full go, but it appeared the others were brought back slowly.
TAKING ATTENDANCE
New injuries: CB Dee Virgin (unknown), returned to practice. DT Nick Thurman (unknown), returned.
Returned to practice: TE Jonnu Smith, DL Lawrence Guy, K Nick Folk, LS Joe Cardona.
Physically unable to perform list: CB Stephon Gilmore (quad), QB Jarrett Stidham, LB Terez Hall, DT Byron Cowart.
Non-football injury list: LB Cameron McGrone (knee), S Joshuah Bledsoe (wrist).
Red non-contact jerseys: QBs.
Full participants: None.
Out: QB Cam Newton (COVID), DB Myles Bryant (upper body), LB Anfernee Jennings, TE Hunter Henry, WR Tre Nixon, WR N'Keal Harry (shoulder), RB Brandon Bolden, TE Matt LaCosse.
Limited: Guy.
DRESS CODE
Pads.
Count: Helmets (3), Shells (6), Pads (7).
LENGTH OF PRACTICE
1:45 under partly cloudy skies and it was humid.
QB STATS
Mac Jones: 15 of 26.
Daily Winner: Jones.
Scoreboard: Jones 8, Newton 3, Draw 2 (Jones 3 TKOs, Newton 1).
HANDS TEAM
Fumbles: None.
Drops: Rhamondre Stevenson, Devin Ross.
Pass breakups: Joejuan Williams, Jonathan Jones.
Interception: None.
TOP PLAY
Kendrick Bourne's one-handed leaping catching in traffic from Mac jones might have been the play of camp.
TWO UP
Josh Uche: Had at least two sacks and was generally all over the place in the pass rush, which wreaked havoc against the Patriots' offense and Jones.
Jonnu Smith: Good to have him back, even with some rust. This team is much more dangerous with him out there.
THREE DOWN
Cam Newton: If you're going to be unvaccinated and the QB of this team, you better take it upon yourself to do everything right if you leave town. He clearly did not.
Offensive line: They had serious issues dealing with the pass rush, as Jones was under duress most of practice.
Route running: Both Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne both had routes where they read the defense incorrectly, which caused errant passes from Jones. Bourne is struggling in this area. His route was fairly simple. It was clearly man coverage, and Jones threw a fade as a result. Bourne read Cover 3 zone and slanted. This is becoming a fairly big problem.
QUICK HITS
- Christian Barmore did not get as much time with the starters as he usually does; Akeem Spence saw an uptick in reps.
- Kyle Van Noy stayed at outside linebacker, where he played vs. Eagles, with Matthew Judon on the other side. Uche mixed in.
- Van Noy had seen most practice time at ILB, but Dont'a Hightower and Ja'Whaun Bentley were there.
- Jones may not have had a great day, but his accuracy is still great even if the results aren't there. Most incompletions are like 6 inches to a foot off, or go off a hand. It's really amazing how accurate he is.
- Devin Asiasi had a better day with two catches in team drills. This is a big week for him.
- Chase Winovich did not get much playing time on defense, but is showing up on special teams.
- Can't figure out what the Patriots are doing with Henry Anderson. At times he plays with the third team, but Belichick praised him again today. Without that, you'd think he's going to get cut. But he's been really good. "Well, Henry is a smart player," Belichick said. "Can play multiple positions and can do them effectively. He's really been a good player to work with and getting to know him and his playing style and all has been good out of appreciation for the versatility he has. There's not really many players that do that, or can do that, that can play from a nine-technique outside the tight end to a zero technique on the center. That's not really a really long list of guys, so I'm glad we have them. I'm glad that he gives us some versatility and depth on our defensive front that I'm sure we're going to be able to use over the course of the year."
- Belichick on Stephon Gilmore's situation, which sounds like it's rooted in injury: "I know that Steph's been working extremely hard. See him in here all the time, and he's doing other things while we're practicing, so we don't really see him on the practice field, but you know, he's been doing everything he can do. The things he hasn't been able to do, he hasn't been able to do. I'd say it's day to day. We just keep trying to put days together and stack them together. When he's ready to be out there, then he'll be out there. If he's not ready to be out there, then he'll work on the things that he can work on to try to get ready to be out there. We'll just take it day to day."
- Belichick also lauded Trent Brown, who really has been terrific since returning. "He really has done a good job of taking the 2018 year of experience in the system and really building on it and becoming a much more valuable player in terms of leadership, communication and helping other people out," Belichick said. "I think in 2018, he was, as he should have been, very focused on just trying to do his job and do it well, which he still does, but I think now he also brings an element of experience and leadership and stability and dependability that is at a very high level, which is which is great. I mean, honestly, it's been awesome to have him."
SCHEDULE
Tuesday: Practice, 10 a.m. (closed to public)
Wednesday: Joint practice with Giants, 10 a.m. (open to public)
Thursday: Joint practice with Giants, 10 a.m. (open to public)
Friday: Practice, TBD (closed to public).
Saturday: OFF.
Sunday: at Giants, 6 p.m.