Instant observations from day 8

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Bill Belichick said ahead of practice that the New England Patriots “weren’t competing against the weather” during their training camp session on Thursday. But sometimes it felt like they were indeed fighting the conditions.

Receiver Kendrick Bourne, for example, bounced four targets in a row on his hands. They wouldn’t all qualify as a drop, but if a ball hits a catcher’s hands, they should catch it (most of the time). And then there was quarterback Mac Jones, who missed his trade with backup center Marcus Martin at one point during practice.

There was a lot of neglect on offense, which the defense – and particularly cornerback JC Jackson – seemed to appreciate. Jackson was among the top players on the pitch, with ruptures on passes destined for Nelson Agholor and Kristian Wilkerson. Jackson finished with three SEBs that day.

Here’s more from the eighth session of the Patriots’ training camp on Thursday.

ABSENT

NEW: DL Christian Barmore
NEW: K Nick Folk
NEW: WR Devin Ross
NEW: S Cody Davis
NEW: CB D’Angelo Ross
LB Raekwon McMillan
DT Akeem Spence
OL Ted Karras
QB Jarrett Stidham
CB Stephon Gilmore
TE Dalton Keene
LB Chase Winovich
LB Cameron McGrone
Room LB Terez
Joshua Bledsoe
C / G Ted Karras
TE Devin Asiasi

REMARKABLE PEOPLE PRESENT

Retired Security Patrick Chung was walking the field to help with training.

LIMIT

Linebacker Kyle Van Noy wore a red non-contact jersey. Safety Adrian Colbert left the training ground early with a coach. Outside linebacker Ronnie Perkins appeared to leave practice early with a problem with his left hand or arm and did not return to practice, instead watching from the sideline.

The weather: Rainy and cool. Low 60s.

The pad level: Full pads. Contact, baby.

The QB order in the exercises: Cam Newton, Mac Jones, Brian Hoyer, Jake Dolega.

The competitive level: The practice began quite quietly. It’s easy to imagine that the rain set the mood. That said, during competitive drills he warmed up slightly – especially on the goal line where there was clearly some talking and pushing.

WINNER:

Jones got an absurdly high rep volume during this wet workout. I’m not sure it’s because he’s overtaking Newton or something. On the contrary, I think the Patriots wanted to give Jones some experience working in the elements (rain and relatively cold weather). Either way, that’s good news for Jones, who has had a lot of work to do rather than having to watch Newton. The more work, the better for a recruit.

Honorable mention: Ja’Whaun Bentley hasn’t played as many games, with the (passing-focused) training camp not exactly matching his strengths as a hard-hitting racing executioner. That said, the Patriots clearly like him planted right in the middle of their starting defense.

LOSING:

Kicker Quinn Nordin continues to look out of place. The child can absolutely bombard the balloon. But his kicks are too much like my overswings with a golf driver: Nordin sprays the ball all over the place. He had a chance to impress with Folk outside. It sounds tough, but Nordin didn’t impress.

Here are the stats – completely out of context – from Thursday’s practice.

  • Jones was 10 of 14 in a fully competitive 11 of 11
  • Newton was 2 of 6.

At the start of training, Phillips recorded a nice pass break on Jonnu Smith. Phillips and Hunter Henry have had many hotly contested clashes. And Phillips wins many of these clashes. He was consistent throughout training camp. Looks like Phillips and the security room aren’t afraid to talk a bit about it too.

“It’s going to be going back and forth here,” said safety coach Brian Belichick. “We are in training camp, we will face each other a lot. So any chance we have to get after (Hunter) Henry and throw it back in his face for not being able to do that, we’re going to take that and they are going to do the same to us. “

  • N’Keal Harry was signaled for OPI in 1 on 1 drills. He then couldn’t quite get a split or shield against Joejuan Williams for a capture on a flag road in the end zone in another rep 1 on 1. Harry’s last rep was a failure where the quarterback threw in a different spot than the receiver was – an obvious miscommunication. Harry remains involved with special teams and, in particular, kickoff coverage and kickoff return.
  • Williams went 2-0 in 1-on-1 repetitions, a good rebounding day after a brutal Wednesday.
  • Receivers Kristian Wilkerson, Isaiah Zuber and Marvin Hall went 2-0 in the 1-on-1 drills. Wilkerson beat JC Jackson once. Zuber caught a brilliant jump ball near the end zone on a flag road. Maybe this receiving corps doesn’t have top talent, but it does have depth.
  • More on receivers: Kendrick Bourne had some trouble catching the ball in the rain. He couldn’t carry targets back to back, one being a knockdown that hit Bourne’s hands on the dive and the other on an outside road that hit him in stride. He dropped the ball on a sloped pass for 11-11. And then Jones just missed the mark for Bourne near the end zone on 11-11, and it fell incomplete.
  • EVEN more on receivers: Nelson Agholor seems to have virtually no role in special teams, a sign that he is the WR1. There’s also his contract: $ 11 million a year, most among receivers (but third among wide receivers behind Smith and Henry, each at $ 12.5 million a year).
  • In a kickoff session, the quarterbacks worked on separate ground with Smith, Henry and Agholor. A player who was not there: Jakobi Meyers, the team’s first receiver in 2020.
  • Adrian Phillips recorded a break with Brian Hoyer over a pass to Jonnu Smith on a drag track.
  • Deatrich Wise dropped Alex Redmond’s helmet during a running exercise.
  • Jonnu Smith was forced to run a lap during a half-field practice. (Maybe he missed a block?) He came back to the next drill and knocked out LB Josh Uche on the edge.
  • Jones and center Marcus Martin fumbled for a snap during that same running and blocking exercise. They were forced to run a lap. For some reason, Brian Hoyer also groped a wink, but does not have run a ride. Veteran’s privilege, I guess.
  • Jones showed impressive ball handling in the rain, with a nice scythe that helped set up a screen.
  • Defensive tackle Lawrence Guy could have absolutely rocked Brian Hoyer on an 11-11 repeat, but the defensive tackle gave up the game instead (because, of course, he’s not allowed to hit the QB). But ‘ball don’t lie.’ The ball fell incomplete.
  • Newton connected with Smith on a slippery 7v7 road despite tight coverage from safety Kyle Dugger. It was a beautiful execution of the offensive.
  • A group of defensive backs – which included Jackson, Dugger and Mills among others – forced Newton to hold the ball way too long and, ultimately, almost throwing an interception.
  • Nobody likes to finish their races like Damien Harris, who will bring the ball into the end zone with every repetition, even when it has clearly been “stopped” by a defense that does not have the right to tackle it. Watching Harris run to the end zone – sometimes 60 yards – always cracks me up. That said, he pulled off a real 50-yard touchdown run, in large part thanks to excellent blocking from Isaiah Wynn and Michael Onwenu.
  • During the 11 on 11, Deatrich Wise reportedly recorded a sack – possibly even a strip-sack – on Mac Jones. But it’s training camp, so Wise couldn’t face Jones, who found Hunter Henry for a long touchdown. (This is just one example of why training camp stats… lack context.)
  • In 11-11 we saw some great play from Myles Bryant, who jumped into the backfield to get a 3- or 4-yard loss on a run from Rhamondre Stevenson. It’s revenge from Tuesday when Stevenson trucked Bryant in.
  • Newton hesitated on a midfield pass to Nelson Agholor 11v11. This gave JC Jackson enough time to jump in front of the ball for a SEB. This is what we not want to see Newton in 2021. He was too hesitant in 2020, which led to timing issues like this. Jackson recorded another break on a Jones throw for Kristian Wilkerson in the end zone.

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