FOXBOROUGH -- For the first time this summer, there was some “real” football played at Gillette Stadium.
The Patriots held a controlled scrimmage with referees as part of their nearly two-hour practice Thursday that was moved up 45 minutes due to rain in the forecast. Although it did rain at times during the practice.
While everything was live (without tackling), it was more about going through the downs. So, if a pass went incomplete, it still went to second down and the ball moved up the field -- it did not remain second-and-10, etc.
We’ll go into more detail later, but the defense absolutely dominated the offense across the board. They let them know about it too, as there was plenty of trash-talk coming from the defensive sideline. The quarterbacks all struggled, as there were a number of would-be sacks and also incompletions. The majority of the completions came on check-down plays or designed screens.
In terms of attendance, Lamar Miller (PUP), Devin McCourty, Will Hastings, Beau Allen, Cassh Maluia and Josh Uche were missing. Maluia and Uche were the only new players to miss practice. While McCourty did not practice, he was on the sideline with the defense.
Here are some observations from the session.
— The defense owned the offense all the way around in the controlled scrimmage. The offense could not get into any rhythm at all and that was because of the way the unit played. There were tons of would-be sacks as well as incompletions. Some were on bad throws by the quarterbacks, but others were because of pass deflections.
— Players who stood out most on defense were Terrence Brooks, Deatrich Wise and D’Angelo Ross. Brooks had a pass breakup and an interception of Cam Newton and was one of the players trash-talking the most to the offense. Wise had a few would-be sacks and then Ross also had several pass breakups.
— Newton completed roughly half his passes in the controlled scrimmage. While he seemed more in control of the offense at the line of scrimmage, it did not translate to his throws and most of his completions came on check-downs. On one goal-line throw, Newton connected with N’Keal Harry in the back of the end zone, but Harry was ruled by the back judge to have stepped out of bounds. Harry was open, so a better throw may have led to a touchdown. The defense and offense argued back-and-forth on whether or not it was a catch, but it was a clear incompletion. Overall, it was not Newton’s finest day. With that being said, it was his first extended live look so issues should be expected. The biggest thing is how he bounces back and improves the next time.
— Stidham continues to see more reps as he rotated every other series with Newton for the most part. With that being said, it was similar to Newton with a lot of incompletions and the offense could not get into any rhythm. Like Newton, the majority of his completions were on check-downs and screens.
— Brian Hoyer saw roughly half the number of reps as the other two quarterbacks and it was pretty similar in terms of results. He did have the best throw of the day as he connected on a deep ball to Devin Ross.
— Speaking of Ross, he continues to stand out and make plays when given the opportunity. On the other side of the spectrum, it was noteworthy Harry, Mohamed Sanu and Julian Edelman were all very quiet in the controlled scrimmage. For the offense to have anything in the passing game, these three players are going to need to lead the way. In Sanu’s case, it’s worth wondering if his roster spot is in jeopardy with his $7.5 million salary? Is it worth it for a No. 4-ish wide receiver who doesn’t have any special teams value?
— Damien Harris broke a 70-yard run on the first play in the controlled scrimmage. All of the running backs participated pretty much equally, including Sony Michel, who just came off PUP Wednesday.
— Rookie tight end Devin Asiasi did not participate much, if at all, in the controlled scrimmage. Meanwhile, Joe Thuney had to take himself out after suffering an apparent left arm injury. He got looked at by the trainers, but remained on the sideline with his helmet on. His status Friday and beyond is worth paying attention to.
— Both kickers — Nick Folk and Justin Rohrwasser — were given the chance to kick a number of times. Folk went 6-for-6, while Rohrwasser was 4-for-6 on field goals, mostly from 30-plus yards. Based on how things have gone this week, Folk has the edge in the kicking competition.
— The last series, which had Brian Lewerke at quarterback, was full tackling. It’s worth wondering if the starters will ever have periods like that as Week 1 gets closer.
— In 1-on-1 drills early in the practice, Stephon Gilmore showed why he’s the NFL Defensive Player of the Year as he had several pass breakups. JC Jackson showed well, too, which frustrated Edelman.
— Robert Kraft came out and watched some of the action.
— The team is currently scheduled to practice inside the stadium Friday afternoon.
Related
