6 rings: Instant reaction and analysis from Day 2 of Patriots Training Camp
The Patriots may have accidentally thrown a wrench into their own training camp practice on Thursday when a report dropped during Bill Belichick’s pre-practice press conference that they’re working on bringing in free agent running back Dalvin Cook for a visit to Foxborough.
“I’m not going to talk about players that aren’t on the team,” Belichick said when asked about Fowler’s report. “It’s a long-standing policy.”
Cook would, no doubt, bring in a high-quality offensive weapon to this Patriots team. But for now, let’s focus on who is currently on the team.
Here’s everything that stood out at New England’s Thursday training camp practice:
First on the field, player arrivals
Starting quarterback Mac Jones was the first on the field at Patriots practice today, followed by Bailey Zappe.
While it was during Belichick’s presser, it sounded like Kendrick Bourne drew the loudest crowd roar, aside from Mac Jones.
Also, Christian Gonzalez is as cool as the other side of the pillow.
Notes and Storylines: Offense
- New England once again opened up their session with a conditioning drill and Mac Jones once again led the charge. Whether people want to believe it or not, Jones is a leader on this team and players gravitate towards it.
- Rhamondre Stevenson was limited. He didn’t take any reps until the very end of practice. Dalvin Cook drama?
- When the Patriots split up between starters and scout team, rookie WR Demario Douglas went with Mac Jones in a group that included JuJu Smith-Schuster, DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne, and Tyquan Thornton.
- Ty Montgomery, whose position Bill Belichick described as “versatile” collided with Terez Hall during 7-on-7’s and limped away. He didn’t seek the trainers right away, but ended up leaving practice early. After missing almost all of last season due to injury, this is worth keeping an eye on.
- Matt Sokol or Rob Gronkowski?! The Patriots latest tight end to wear #87 made a moss-like grab in the corner of the end zone.
- The Patriots' quarterbacks and receivers worked on pick routes and crossers while the specialists worked on kick return. Last year New England's offense had a lot of trouble with spacing, so it's good to see them knock this out early.
- Same starting offensive line with Onwenu out on day two: Trent Brown, Cole Strange, David Andrews, Bill Murray, Riley Reiff.
- Mac Jones started practice slow but had a great bounce-back period during 11-on-11s. He dropped a dime to DeVante Parker who beat Christian Gonzalez for a 20-yard TD on a deep crosser. He then hit JuJu Smith-Schuster for a touchdown.
- Jones unfortunately finished his day with an interception. A bad decision on a roll out. Threw across his body into the chest of Kyle Dugger, his second INT off of Jones this camp.
Mike Kadlick joins Jones and Arcand to talk Patriots training camp:
Notes and Storylines: Defense
- Rookie Marte Mapu remained in a red non-contact jersey as he recovers from a torn pectoral muscle.
- While Matthew Judon has arrived at training camp, he’s been a figurative and literal no-show once practice starts. This could be something to monitor moving forward.
- Jack Jones with the second unit once again, but made a nice play on a pass breakup on Jalen Hurd. This still feels like more of a contingency plan at the position rather than disciplinary.
- Christian Gonzalez locked up JuJu Smith-Schuster in the first play of 7-on-7 period. He continued locking him up during 11s until the wide receiver beat him on a slip route for a TD.
- Marcus Jones got some run at boundary cornerback today, but wasn’t great. He got beat several times by DeVante Parker and JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Notes and Storylines: Special teams
- Remains the Joe Judge show. Even during the wet ball converage drill, Judge worked with New England’s “first team” specialists while Cam Achord worked with what you could call a second unit.
- Marcus Jones returned kicks. BREAKING: He’s fast.
- Chad Ryland, the Patriots rookie fourth round pick, saw some reps as the “starting” kicker during field goal drills to end practice.
Player of the Day
JuJu Smith-Schuster.
My eyes were out for JuJu heading into practice based on his lack of production on Wednedsay. He delivered.
Although he struggled to break away from rookie Christian Gonzalez a handful of times, The seventh-year wide receiver was heavily involved in the offense and, for the most part, excelled. It'll be exciting to see him continue to build a rapport with Mac Jones.
Media availability
We spoke to Mack Wilson, Hunter Henry, Josh Uche, Lawrence Guy, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Jonathan Jones following practice. Some notable quotes:
Mack Wilson, who switched to jersey number 3 this offseason, said that one of the reasons he decided to don it was because he grew up watching Dwyane Wade. Wilson is buying a fan his new jersey, which we covered a few weeks ago on WEEI.com.
Hunter Henry is excited to work with Bill O’Brien: “He’s been great, man. Excited to be in the meeting room breaking things down… he’s very consistent so far.” Henry also mentioned that O’Brien has been showing he and Mike Gesicki game film of the last dynamic Patriots tight end pairing of Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez: Those guys are legends around here.”
Lawrence Guy, who was a hold out during OTAs due to a contract dispute, says he and the team are in talks, but he wouldn’t indulge further. Same goes for Josh Uche, who is heading into a contract year after a dominant 2022.
JuJu Smith-Schuster, today’s player of the day, is healthy and ready to roll heading into this season: “Honestly I feel amazing. I feel great.” he also commended the Patriots fan base who has been out here the last two days, calling them amazing as well.
Jonathan Jones spoke on rookie cornerback Christian Gonzalez, saying , “he’s bought in. Continues to get better day after day.”
Wrap-Up and Takeaways
Overall, it was good to see the offense bounce back after a so-so day one. We’ll see what day three brings once they expand out of the redzone.
We’ll be back down here once again for WEEI and WEEI.com tomorrow as the Patriots continue their 2023 season on much better footing than a season ago.
Make sure to follow Mike on Twitter @mikekadlick, and follow @WEEI for the latest up-to-date Patriots and Boston sports news!
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