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July 31, 2007
Day 5, 2nd practice
FOXBOROUGH – Here are five observations from this evening’s training camp practice:
1) Great grabs. Tight end Benjamin Watson and receiver Reche Caldwell both made terrific catches, with Watson diving on a low-thrown ball from Tom Brady on a seam route about 25 yards down the field. Linebacker Adalius Thomas was right on Watson’s hip in coverage, but the catch highlighted an overall strong practice for Watson. Meanwhile, Caldwell hauled in a long bomb from Matt Cassel down the middle of the field, with Tory James in coverage and James Sanders coming over to help. At first, it looked like an ill-advised throw from Cassel, but Caldwell made it pay off.
2. Moss in the end zone. At 6-foot-4, Randy Moss should be a factor in the red zone and we saw a bit of that in a one-on-one drill in which receivers and cornerbacks went toe to toe on routes into the corner of the end zone. With the Patriots’ tallest corner in coverage (Tory James), Moss shielded him off with his body and made the catch toward the outer edges of the end zone. Later in practice, in two-minute work, Moss made a nice diving catch along the right sideline.
3. Not a happy ending. While the offense showed signs of life in this practice, the session didn’t end as Tom Brady hoped it would. Directing the two-minute offense, Brady’s final pass skipped incomplete in the end zone, intended for Jabar Gaffney, and the quarterback looked to be quite upset with himself. He spent a few minutes speaking with Bill Belichick on the field after practice, before the two walked off together.
4) Koppen holds his ground. The offensive linemen got a good contact-filled workout today. One part of the practice saw two rushers square off against two linemen at the same time, and one player who stood out when we were watching was center Dan Koppen. Just solid work as nose tackle Vince Wilfork attempted to bull rush him into the pocket.
5) Rodney likes Richardson. In the one-on-one drill in which receivers and cornerbacks went toe to toe on routes into the corner of the end zone, rookie corner Mike Richardson broke up a pass intended for Jabar Gaffney at the last moment. He was quickly congratulated by Harrison, who was coaching up the corners in the drill. Richardson, a sixth-round draft choice out of Notre Dame, hasn’t taken many snaps in team drills but with plays like that he could get an opportunity.
WEDNESDAY LOOK-AHEAD: The Patriots are scheduled for a single practice on Wednesday (2:30 p.m.). Bill Belichick is scheduled to hold a press conference at 11:15 a.m. We’ll plan on posting our first update after the press conference.
Posted By: mreiss | Time: 07:53:03 PM | E-mail | Link
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