FOXBORO -- Football is officially back.
The Patriots held their first training camp session of the summer Thursday morning on the upper grass fields behind Gillette Stadium. It was without pads, as the first two days pads are not permitted. This will change over the weekend.
Absent: David Andrews, Michael Bennett, Yodny Cajuste (NFI), Cole Croston (PUP)
Present, but not participating: Sony Michel (PUP), Nate Ebner (PUP), Demaryius Thomas (PUP), Deatrich Wise Jr. (PUP), Ken Webster (PUP), Julian Edelman (NFI)
Red non-contact jersey: Patrick Chung
Here are some quick observations from the session, which went just over two hours:
-- One of the biggest stories from the day was second-year quarterback Danny Etling switching to wide receiver and also playing some special teams. He did not have a red, non-contact jersey like most QBs do. With Tom Brady, Brian Hoyer and Jarrett Stidham seemingly ahead of him on the depth chart, it seems the Patriots are doing whatever they can to find him a role on the team. He still did some quarterback work as well, including afterwards being the last player to leave the field following working on his throws.
-- Second-year offensive lineman Isaiah Wynn was on the field and did some work at left tackle, but none of which occurred in 7-on-7 or 11-on-11 work. Like in the spring, Joe Thuney saw plenty of reps there in his place. Wynn's status is worth monitoring, as it drastically impacts the rest of the offensive line. The team does not have a true backup for the position. With Andrews out, James Ferentz saw extensive work at center.
-- Players who returned kicks included: Brandon Bolden, Braxton Berrios, Jonathan Jones and Gunner Olszewski. It's worth pointing out rookie punter Jake Bailey handled half of the kickoffs.
-- Working off to the side with Brady during special teams work were Benjamin Watson and N'Keal Harry. Harry also spent some 1-on-1 time with Josh McDaniels.
-- Jones was one of the biggest stars of the day on defense breaking up several passes, one of which was thrown by Brady in the end zone.
-- Brady and Chung had some fun jawing back and forth during receiver and defensive back drills. This was something we didn't see much of during the spring without Brady around.
-- Undrafted rookie wide outs Ryan Davis and Jakobi Meyers each made some nice grabs in team drills. These two have every chance in the world to make the team as the receiver position is wide open behind Edelman and Harry.
-- Jerod Mayo once again was on the head set calling out plays to the defense with linebacker Ja'Whaun Bentley wearing the green dot.
-- Robert Kraft made his way out to practice just over halfway through.
-- Brady spent time with the running backs after practice.
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