FOXBOROUGH – The Patriots wrapped up their afternoon practice (3:45-5:30) and it was a shorts-and-shells (light shoulder pads) session that was held at half to three-quarters speed. This looked like a clean-up practice as the team nears the end of preparations for Thursday’s preseason opener.
In 22 training camp practices, the Patriots have been full pads 15 times, with four walkthroughs and three shorts-and-shells sessions.
Jon Bon Jovi was present for the practice, and the team warmed up to his music.
1) Ingram the lone long snapper. If practice reps are any indication, Thursday’s preseason opener will be an important long-snapping audition for sixth-round draft choice Jake Ingram. Veteran Nathan Hodel wasn’t on the field for this session and Ingram has been receiving more work in recent days. The Patriots seldom had worries in this area with Lonie Paxton over the last nine years, and the coaching staff figures to give Ingram game reps to see how he responds under the bright lights. Linebacker Rob Ninkovich took some snaps with the scout team.
2) Brady, Moss … & Edelman. After the Patriots worked on a few plays inside the 10, quarterback Tom Brady wanted to go over some of the finer points of route combinations with two of his receivers – Randy Moss and Julian Edelman. It looked like Brady was tutoring Edelman on how he wanted a specific route run. That Edelman is on the receiving end of such instruction – and running combination routes with Moss – is an indication of his progress.
3) OL Sebastian Vollmer catches a punt. In an annual ritual at training camp, a practice ended with a lineman having the chance to catch a punt that would result in a full-team reward. This year's lineman was rookie Sebastian Vollmer, who initally bobbled a Chris Hanson punt before gathering it in. The players celebrated. It was not known what the reward was, but it might have been calling off end-of-practice sprints.
4) Vice players work on all the details. One part of practice that caught the eye of reporters was on punt returns. The practice stopped and all the players were on the sideline except for the two vice men. A gunner ran up the sideline, out of bounds, and the vice players worked on blocking the gunner as he came back in bounds. The Patriots cover all the details.
5) Heavy emphasis on situations. With Bill Belichick calling out situations, the Patriots raced to the line of scrimmage to re-set after each play. This practice seemed to be more mental than physical, as coaches signaled in plays, and quarterbacks listened for the play-call in their helmets.
NOTE: Today's first practice was a shorts-and-t-shirts walkthrough. At walkthroughs, there are no major details to report because things are done at such a slow pace.
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Mike,
No write up for the first practice? I love the write ups and wait for them
Hi Showtime. Today's first practice was a walkthrough -- just shorts and t-shirts. No big happenings at walkthroughs.
--Mike
Can you explain what the vice men are? I've never heard that term used before
London_Ben: The vice (like a clamp) guys are the two players you see lining up in front of the gunner. The gunner is the player you usually see split out on the line of scrimmage on punt formations to go after the punt returner. The vice guys try to prevent them from getting to the punt returner quickly.
Instead of gushing about how many pads practices the Pats have had (which of course sounds like Pats PR, instead of reporting), why not talk to coaches around the league and write a story about the plusses and minuses of such a heavy camp workload? There are lots of coaches (current and past) who strongly believe that this kind of camp will mean a dead team in November. Why always assume Belichick is right? Belichick is a great coach, but he kept Brady largely out of the preseason last year, and clearly Brady's reflexes and peripheral vision were not ready for the speed of regular season game one, and it cost the Pats dearly. Doing the opposite of the conventional wisdom isnt always the right thing.
whynotsomejournalism, I think if you read Mike's piece it is straightforward reporting (which we call journalism by the way) on the number of practices in pads, shells, etc. I have not seen him make any claim that The Hood is "right" and others are "wrong". However, it is good journalism to recognize and report that this camp has been very different than camps in the past few years. If you want to read about other coaches, read other reporters.
Thanks Mike.
whynotsomejournalism
You must be jokeing, right? What are you 12? Keep up the good work Mr.Reiss
I Mike's family is back commenting again. ; ) Apparently, it is not only heresy to question Belichick, it's forbidden to question the Globe's approach to covering the team. What's wrong with asking for a balanced *informative* piece on some of Bill's more unusual techiniques, and ask people around the league about them, instead of just assuming ALL the other coaches are doing it the wrong way, and he is right? That's journalism, and would be interesting reading. I'm a Pats fan, and legitimately wonder if a veteran team should have this many two a days in pads, this early in camp. Of course, the Globies are afraid to question it, lest they get Bill's evil eye.
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