Bedard: 3 up/3 down from Patriots' first offseason practice of 2023

Building on things that continue to stand out from the first session on Wednesday...

THREE UP

Tyquan Thornton, WR: Wouldn't say he looked like he was going to become a starter and dominate, but it was a nice first session for the second-year receiver who seemed to trail off as the season went along, which looked to be a byproduct of the overall issues with the offense as much as anything. I shouldn't be amazed by this since Twitter is a cesspool of the worst of humanity, but I still am. I tweeted this about a play posted by the Patriots ... 

... and half the dimwits took it as a shot of some kind. No, what I was actually doing was pointing out that he was that wide open against coverage — you don't see any defenders so it could have been construed as being on air — which is a definite plus, but also that it was in an early jogthrough portion so I wouldn't go bananas. You know, facts. But whatever.

Probably the most interesting thing about Thornton's day was that a lot of his routes came out of the slot. That's an interesting wrinkle. Of course, Juju Smith-Schuster wasn't there, so that might not come to fruition ultimately.

Mac Jones, QB: On the field, comfortable would be the operative word about Jones' day. He looked like he was operating a system — now a blend of Patriots and Alabama (at least for a day) — that he has a lot of familiarity with. From read options to play actions to little boot throws, Jones looked like he knew what he was doing and the footwork was excellent. And Jones executed plays with a confidence he lacked last year — like he understands why they are doing these things, because they make sense. Last year they did not. Jones was also involved with corrections with certain players, and I would like to see that continue and be more forceful in camp. Feels like he's trying to earn the trust back on offense, which he talked about after practice, and that will be a little process. 

"I think everyone's entitled to an opinion. All I can do, like I said earlier, I'm going to run my race, and hopefully everybody will run right behind me. We'll be able to push this thing along and learn from everything. I'm going to do everything I can to earn the respect of everybody in this building again, and from there, go out there and win some games. "

Joshuah Bledsoe, S: He was very active with the safety group, playing everywhere from free safety to strong safety and the Star position in the slot. He had an interception and seemed to be moving with a deeper knowledge of the system.

THREE DOWN

Juju Smith-Schuster, WR: He wasn't there and while it's voluntary, it's a little disappointing because he's replacing a player in Jakobi Meyers who never missed anything and was productive. Smith-Schuster can miss stuff as long as he hits the ground running. The Patriots can't take a step back at that spot. Jones had some nice things to say, so hopefully that's the reality.

"Yeah, I think JuJu's done a great job, also from a leadership standpoint," Jones said. "Coming in, that's someone who adds veteran leadership from different places. He just came off of a Super Bowl team, so what a great value to our offense. Obviously, when he gets on the field, that's going to be great because he has the experience and he loves talking about football. He's just a football nerd, I guess, kind of like me. We kind of hit it off in that regard. He's an awesome guy, and I'm looking forward to working with all those guys in that room. I think there's a lot of potential there. "

Pass-catching running backs: The Patriots worked a lot with them in this practice and they caught a lot of balls, but there was very little in the way of explosiveness or wow factor with any of them. The Patriots really need to get some big impact from that spot to make this offense tougher to defend. 

Defensive pressure concepts: The Patriots again worked on their two-man games (for example, an edge and end working in tandem) both in drills and during the on-field session. Look, I understand this is part of what they do, and they generate a ton of pressure with it over the balance of a 17-game season. But we've seen over the years that these tactics dry up against the better offenses who gameplan for it, even for a Matthew Judon. Why? Because those games are defined by individual talent, and winning man on man. The Patriots don't have enough guys that can do that in big games. Maybe that will change in time, but it just seemed like the Patriots are just doing in the same old, same old on defense. Would like to see a little bit more creativity. Maybe, again, that will come in time.