Walkthrough session

FOXBOROUGH -- The Patriots have taken the field for their ninth practice since training camp opened last Thursday. This session, held on the upper practice fields behind Gillette Stadium, is a walkthrough, with players in shorts and T-shirts.

Walkthroughs are light practices in which players slowly go through parts of the playbook.

It is likely that coach Bill Belichick identified a few items that he wants the team to work on tonight in full pads, in the presence of the NFL referees who are in town, and the team is touching up on those areas this morning.

Three referees are here, and they are wearing their official uniforms on the practice field this morning. Butch Hannah, a respected umpire who dons number 40, is one of the officials in town.

On a personnel note, TE David Thomas is on the field for the walkthrough. Thomas had left yesterday's practice, under his own power, with a member of the team's training staff.