FOXBOROUGH – Five observations from the Patriots’ third training camp practice, which was held today on the upper practice fields behind Gillette Stadium:
1) Quarterbacks in focus. Talk to personnel men in the NFL, and many often say “this is a quarterback league.” Their point is essentially that teams with good quarterbacks have the best chance to win, because it’s the most important – and most challenging – position on the field. With that in mind, the highlight of this practice came when the top three quarterbacks led the hurry-up offense in situational work near the end of the session. In that setting, you see the way the quarterbacks communicate with the rest of the offense without a huddle and how they react under pressure. While one would expect Tom Brady to ace such a test – which he generally did -- it was interesting to watch the cool command of Matt Cassel, who took the second-unit reps. He appears to be as comfortable as he’s been under center in his four years here. Meanwhile, it was more difficult to get a read on Matt Guttierez, as the protection seemed to break down in front of him.
2) Thin on the offensive line. If there is one primary area of concern at this time, it would probably be the right side of the offensive line with first-stringers Nick Kaczur (tackle) and Stephen Neal (guard) on PUP. Wesley Britt remained at right tackle for the third straight practice, but Billy Yates was a newcomer with the first unit at right guard. Russ Hochstein – the first-team right guard for the first two practices – was the second-string center. Part of this is probably the team building the position flexibility to which Bill Belichick often refers, but it also highlights the current depth situation. Ryan O’Callaghan, primarily a right tackle, was working at second-string left tackle in the practice.
3) Blitz pickup generates excitement. Always a treat for fans, the running backs squared off against surging linebackers in a blitz-pickup drill. They might re-name this drill after Tedy Bruschi, as he always seems to get a rise out of the crowd in some form. At one point, Bruschi attempted to leap over Sammy Morris, which even had some of the players and coaches laughing. Bruschi and Morris then high-fived. One could tell it was early in camp, because the running backs weren’t as sharp as they usually are. It’s not often that one sees Kevin Faulk get beat – pass blocking is one of his strengths – but it happened a few times.
4) Contact work seems to increase. Of the three training camp practices to date, this one seemed to feature the most contact. In addition to the blitz-pickup drill with running backs and linebackers, the offensive linemen worked on blocking defensive linemen and rushers in the passing game, and there was also an inside-running drill. In the work with the offensive linemen vs. d-line/pass rushers, head coach Bill Belichick watched from behind the defenders and jumped in from time to time to instruct the defender on fundamentals such as hand placement. At one point, he was speaking with recent free-agent signee Titus Adams, which was a reflection of how Belichick gets involved with players from all points of the roster.
5) Special teams in focus. There seemed to be a lot of special teams work in this practice. One drill of note came for the front line of the kickoff return team, as they had to sprint back to a specific spot on the field, turn, and then block a player who was sprinting full speed at them. Rookie free-agent linebacker Gary Guyton caught the eye on one sequence, as his speed helped him stay on top of tight end David Thomas, who subsequently had a bit of difficulty in blocking him.
EXTRA POINTS: The Patriots have opened training camp with three straight full-pads sessions. … Defensive lineman Richard Seymour did not participate for the second straight session. … With Seymour and Jarvis Green not practicing, Le Kevin Smith lined up at right defensive end alongside nose tackle Vince Wilfork and left end Ty Warren. … With Mike Vrabel remaining on the PUP list, third-year man Pierre Woods continued to line up at his outside linebacker spot with the top defense. … Fernando Bryant and Jason Webster remained the top two corners. … Rookie receiver/safety Matthew Slater drew some “oohs” from the crowd with his burst on one kickoff return drill, and also for reaching up high and grabbing a reception from Matt Cassel along the sideline in 11-on-11 work. … Owner Robert Kraft made an appearance at practice. … Overall, this just seemed to be a much sharper practice, perhaps because the team was outside, instead of the cozier confines of the Dana-Farber Field House.
Saturday’s schedule: Practice closed to the public due to the Country Music Festival at the stadium (we will report from both sessions, at 8:30 a.m., and 4:15 p.m.)
Mike, is Seymour hurt?
18-1
Starting now, Seymour is no longer elite. You can't be elite if you're not on the field (granted, it is training camp), but c'mon. I've seen "Seymour was not present for practice" as much as "Brady to Moss for TD"
Once they gave Seymour his big contract he was never as good again
He won't try again until his next contract year
It's TC people, the coaches are managing his workload. Being that it's a long season and the Pats plan to make it even longer with a playoff run and SB they are simply trying to keep everyone fresh. Everyone needs to remember that this maybe the 1st time we've turned our attention to football since last season but the players have been working out and have had passing camps and mini camps. Everyone needs to take a deep breath and relax, the 1st pre-season game is 12 days away. Seymour will be back to his all-pro form this season.
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