Defensive lineman Vince Wilfork (75) chats with linebacker Adalius Thomas (96). (Robert E. Klein / Globe Photo)
FOXBOROUGH – Five observations from the Patriots’ 16th training camp practice, which was held in full pads this morning (8:45 p.m.) on the upper practice fields behind Gillette Stadium:
1) Locking in on game preparations. This practice was geared specifically toward preparations for Thursday’s preseason opener. It was commonplace to hear coaches calling out personnel packages, as well as plays, with the players responding on cue. There was plenty of special teams work too. Some of the team’s top players were not present – Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Wes Welker, and Richard Seymour among them – so there is likely to be a question as to if those players will suit up Thursday night. Then again, this could have just been a way to ensure that all players get practice reps – it’s always a challenge to prepare as many as 80 players for a game – and perhaps we’ll see Brady, Moss, Welker etc., at tonight’s in-stadium practice. Further evidence of the game-like feel was the black arm band -- which listed some of the team’s plays -- worn by backup quarterback Matt Cassel.
2) Tackling drill in focus. As training camp has progressed, the level of contact has gradually increased. Along those lines, the coaching staff called for a tackling drill today. Orange cones are set up in a 10-yard box, and the defender starts in the box, with an offensive player 10 yards up the field. When the offensive player begins to move toward the box, the defensive player steps up and must execute the proper fundamentals of one-on-one tackling. A Vince Redd stick on Heath Evans drew a reaction from the crowd.
3) Goal-line work caps off the practice. The session ended with a pad-crunching goal-line session. The ball was placed on the 2-yard line and the offense lined up with two backs, two tight ends, and one receiver. The defense crowded the box, so it was power on power. On the first play, quarterback Matt Cassel executed a nice play-action fake and hit Sam Aiken for a touchdown under the goal-posts (Jerod Mayo and Lewis Sanders were the closest defenders). The second play, a Laurence Maroney run over the left side in the direction of defensive lineman Santonio Thomas, was stopped by a nice defensive surge. A LaMont Jordan run over the right side was then stopped by another defensive surge, which had linebacker Adalius Thomas knocking fists with his fellow defenders after the stop. On the fourth play, Jordan rushed off the left side and was untouched as he scored (Shawn Crable seemed to miss his assignment). A Matt Gutierrez TD pass to Marcus Pollard followed that play (Eric Alexander & Crable were the closest defenders), while running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis made one cut and exploded in off the right side for a touchdown on the final play. So the offense was 4-of-6.
4) Sam Aiken in the receiver race. When the Patriots signed receiver Sam Aiken as a free agent this offseason, it was primarily due to his special teams prowess. But watching today’s practice – and the way Aiken seems to catch most balls thrown in his direction – it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if he challenges for playing time in the No. 4 or 5 roles. To the layman, Aiken does not seem out of place when he’s running pass patterns down the field, as he seems to come out of his breaks pretty nicely. He's also a bigger target in the red zone at 6-foot-2, 215 pounds. He’ll be a player to watch Thursday night, because it’s one thing to do it in practice, another to do it in games.
5) Defensive backs staying around the ball. Every training camp practice has seemingly seen a defensive back deflect at least one pass, and today was no different. In one-on-one work, cornerback Fernando Bryant swatted away a delivery on an out-route to Sam Aiken – although later in practice in 11-on-11 work, Bryant didn’t turn on a long pass to Chris Dunlap and probably would have been flagged for pass interference. Rookie cornerback Terrence Wheatley also batted away a Matt Cassel pass intended for Dunlap.
Players watch a fumble-recovery drill on a wet field during the morning practice. |
EXTRA POINTS: In addition to the PUP players, those not in attendance included: Tom Brady, Jason Webster, Ellis Hobbs, Sammy Morris, James Sanders, Rodney Harrison, Kyle Eckel, Tedy Bruschi, Ryan O’Callaghan, Matt Light, Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Benjamin Watson, David Thomas and Richard Seymour. … Logan Mankins spent some time early in practice working on shotgun snaps. … In what has become an annual part of camp, rookies once again “worked” on a fumble drill in which a hose was turned on and the ball was thrown in a wet area, and the rooks were doused as they pounced on the ball. … Rookie quarterback Kevin O’Connell and rookie center Ryan Wendell took a lap after failing to execute a quarterback-center exchange. … The crowd was probably the lightest, in terms of attendance, of training camp. … The team’s evening practice, to be held in the stadium, is a season-ticket holder-only event (6:30 p.m.)
Comment
Permalink
Email
HI Mike,
In one of the previous postings, it was mentioned that Brady has kinda tweaked his left knee in practice. Is this the reason why he is not in the practice
Hi Mithun. As we know, Brady practiced on Sunday, the day after he appeared to experience some discomfort. Let's see if he practices tonight. Maybe then it will become more clear.
--Mike
Yeah, what's the deal with Brady? There's been no mention of this, other than a very nonchalant quip in the "Belichick Meets the Press" article. This is not something you want to gloss over, especially on this site.
I'm really confused as to why this hasn't been mentioned since. I hope this blog isn't in too deep with the team to not report on certain issues.
Oh, come on. He has reported on it. What he hasn't done is make a bigger deal of it than it is. Its been reported on enough that I know he left Saturday's practice briefly with a left leg problem, returned to complete that practice, and practiced again on Sunday with no evident impediment. Further, as far as his absence today, regular readers here know that the team takes a conservative approach to working him in camp, and that he's already missed at least one other session for that reason. So that is far more likely the reason for his absence than what appears to be a minor scrape from Saturday's practice. I don't think Mike ought to be jabbed for being "in too deep with the team" when he practices restraint on what is clearly a non-story.
L.A. - hope you've been a fan since 2000. Brady's had knee discomfort since that season so it's really no surprise - unless you're a reporter for the Herald.
Hi Mike,
I evidently missed the subsequent postings about sunday's practice here. Thanks for your response and keep up the awesome work.
Mithun
From ProJo blog the day of the injury(Sat.), sorry Mike but you were in Canton that day:
** There was a scary moment about midway into the two-hour practice, when Tom Brady completed a pass to Jabar Gaffney and then immediately bent over and grabbed his lower left leg. He limped back to the line and completed another pass, but then removed his helmet and took a knee while Matt Cassel ran the offense. Though he was tended to by a trainer, Brady never left the field and did finish out the rest of his reps under center. **
As mentioned Brady also fully participated in Sunday's practice. This is nothing to be concerned about.
I predict that Brady will now be on the injury report...
waaaaaaaaiit....
Relax. I'm just asking. You can imagine my surprise when I stumbled across this info. Plus, knowing how tight lipped BB is, well, you can put two and two together.
Also, I wasn't jabbing Mike or the blog. I was voicing my biggest fear: losing untainted or unbiased info on the team, which has happened in the past with reporters from that area. Mike's blog is the best place for N.E. news and I would be devastated to lose it over something like that. So, relax. Just trying to find out what happened with the most important player on the team.
By the way, been a fan since 1977 and I've attended most of the training camps up to 2004, when I moved out west. I remember sitting in the stands when I was a kid while fans wore bags on their heads. We've come a long way, baby.
Mike, if I offended you, I apologize. Keep up the good work. I'll try to control my knee jerk reactions in the future. Sometimes being a fan of this team from a far is like being on an island, very far from the main lands.
This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
Patriots Twitter
ask reiss
Questions will be considered for Mike's mailbagbrowse this blog
by categoryINside Boston.com