Day 20, second Patriots practice
FOXBOROUGH -- The Patriots wrapped up the day -- and the public portion of training camp -- with a practice this afternoon in shorts and light shoulder pads. The practice was the 28th since camp opened on July 30 (including a walkthrough prior to last week's exhibition opener against the Philadelphia Eagles). Coach Bill Belichick had his team in full pads 18 times.
Here are a few observations from the afternoon session, which featured red zone work, goal line work and punt team work.
1. O'Connell snaps to it -- Second-year QB Kevin O'Connell got a lot of snaps during the practice, a possible precursor to increased playing time against the Bengals on Thursday night. Conversely, Tom Brady did not take a lot of reps. O'Connell saw some time with the first unit. However, at one point O'Connell was pulled out of a rep and then was engaged in a conversation with quarterbacks coach Bill O'Brien.
2. Timing pattern -- Brady spent time during the practice on the other field working on his timing with receivers Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Joey Galloway. With Galloway, who has admitted he needs to get on the same page with Brady, the focus was the deep ball, with varying degrees of success.
3. Springs ahead -- Cornerback Shawn Springs doesn't appear to have lost much ground despite having very limited practice participation since the start of camp. He made a nice play to deflect away a pass to Terrence Nunn in the end zone.
4. Tough Love -- It was not a great practice for rookie cornerback Jamar Love. He was beaten by Moss in red zone work despite grabbing Moss around the waist at the snap. He was in coverage on a slant to Greg Lewis that in a real game would have gone for a touchdown as the Patriots blitzed a safety. And he allowed a long completion to Nunn.
5. Mr. Rogers -- Newly-signed safety Roderick Rogers (No. 43) made a nice play to break up a deep pass from Brady to Moss, although the ball appeared to be a little underthrown. He appeared to be jawing with Moss after the play. Moss victimized him later on a deep throw, though.
Extra points: O'Brien used a walkie-talkie to communicate the plays to the quarterbacks via the speakers in their helmets. ... Offensive lineman Russ Hochstein lined up in the backfield. ... Myron Pryor continued to look good.
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Keep Nunn. I think Galloway will prove to be mediocre at best.
Chris, it's not the first time I see reports here about Brady underthrowing Moss this camp. Is this happening at a higher rate than you'd expect, or is this just part of the normal process of getting your timing during training camp?
"He appeared to be jawing with Moss after the play. Moss victimized him later on a deep throw, though." Always a bad idea to trash talk with Moss, especially when you're a unknown, if not irrelevant player who was just signed.
It's nice to hear that practices are competitive
I got my money on Galloway! He's a burner even at 102.I really like this years class of rookies there are some real keepers from even the lower draft choices,Pryor seems to be getting a lot of praise and even the undrafted WR Nunn is gettting his fair share of ink.Gotta love it.
I got my money on Galloway! He's a burner even at 102.I really like this years class of rookies there are some real keepers from even the lower draft choices,Pryor seems to be getting a lot of praise and even the undrafted WR Nunn is gettting his fair share of ink.Gotta love it.
I got my money on Galloway! He's a burner even at 102.I really like this years class of rookies there are some real keepers from even the lower draft choices,Pryor seems to be getting a lot of praise and even the undrafted WR Nunn is gettting his fair share of ink.Gotta love it.
Ed,
Brady is done... No chance... lol
Ed, even in 2007 Brady was underthrowing Moss a lot more than he was overthrowing him. When the '07 season began, I remember Brady overthrew a wide open Moss on a deep throw 2 or 3 times in the first few games and, after that, he said something along the lines of "Randy is so good at going up and getting the ball that it's much better to underthrow him tand give him a chance to outjump the defender." After that, I recall very few overthrows of Moss and a fair number of underthrows. So I do not think this is a new habit - when a QB actively tries not to overthrow a receiver, passes coming up short are bound to happen.
Hey bozo, lay off the submit button, we got it the first time.
Adam,
You are right, and one more thing to be considered.....Moss plays very lazy sometimes. Instead of going up for the ball and taking advantage of his height and reach, he often just slows up (letting the defender catch up) and gator-arms, waiting for the ball to fall into the cradle (negating the height advantage and letting the defender disrupt the balls flight). Pisses me off. It's like he only wants to try for the easy ones sometimes. Brady/Moss is a great combo, but there is room for improvement.
Galloway gets cut before the season starts. You heard it here first.
Sportsbozo1
Who do you put your money on? I didn't quite catch that.
In the words of Billy Madison,"Ta..Ta..Ta..Today Jr!!!"
I hate to say it but, I think jaxpatriot has a point about Randy. With any combo there is room for improvement. Even with that said, Brady/Moss scares the DBs and Safetys throughout the league. BB wants Randy to go up and get it. I've heard him say so to Moss. I think Randy is protecting his health. Otis might be right to do so. Brady threw some nice balls in the first preseason game. I think his shoulder might be a lot healthier than recent years. Plenty of targets underneath. Right bozo, bozo, bozo...sorry couldn't resist, rrrresist. We all make mistakes.
Well, absent a significant and obvious breakdown in coverage, throwing the long ball is a lower percentage play than throwing it short. But throwing long to Moss, in spite of his lapses in concentration, still increases the odds of success appreciably.
Tales of Galloway's demise are GREATLY exaggerated, thank you VERY much!
Bozo?
You keep that up, and sooner or later I'm gonna get a sneaky suspicion...that you got your money on Galloway!
Call it an hunch...
***
Regarding Moss, there is NO player in the league I'd rather have going for a TD Pass with the game on the line...
~ except Fitzgerald, of course!! ~
There're a LEGION of half-aasers out there, don't get me wrong. But a LOT of players who perform smart self-management get bad reps, so I'd caution y'all about judging Moss too harshly. It IS a brutal game, after all, and the smartest players ~ the ones who are thinking about the impact on the ENTIRE season ~ are constantly evaluating risk versus reward.
Case in Point: Those of you who've been around long enough remember that DJ ~ Dennis Johnson ~ was often accused of "coasting". Well, I'm here to say that he WAS, and to add an hearty "Attaboy!" ~ DJ was MONEY, once the playoffs started, and in no small part because he took care of himself over the course of a season.
I may ADMIRE Bob Sanders ~ he's just about my favorite player in the freaking LEAGUE ~ but he hasn't played an entire season since 1623.
Just sayin'! ;p
"Chris, it's not the first time I see reports here about Brady underthrowing Moss this camp. Is this happening at a higher rate than you'd expect, or is this just part of the normal process of getting your timing during training camp?"
Superbowl 42, after the Giants pulled ahead at the end, Moss beat double coverage deep and Brady under-threw him. Moss gets really deep sometimes.
Don't get me wrong guys, I love the Brady/Moss combo. But let's face it....Moss slacks on some plays when all he had to do was reach over the smaller guy and CATCH THE BALL, and it's not about saving himself for later. How is he going to jeopardize anything by reaching over a guy six inches shorter than him??! Lapse of concentration, laziness, whatever. Call it whatever you want, it is unprofessional.
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