As much as people want to hear about Mac Jones and the progress the offense made during Tuesday's joint practice against the Carolina Panthers -- check out the latest "1st and Foxborough" for more -- the biggest stars on Day 1 of joint practices were on the defensive side of the ball.
The defensive front, led by Davon Godchaux and Christian Barmore, routinely bullied Carolina's offensive line, and Matthew Judon looked as disruptive as ever when he was on the field.
Jonathan Jones is clearly an outside corner right now and keeps playing well in that role, and both Marcus and Jack Jones showed proved their mettle against Panthers receivers with pass breakups in 1-on-1 drills and tight coverage in team segments.
But arguably no one aside from Barmore on this defense has been as consistently good as Jalen Mills.
The former seventh-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, who struggled as an outside cornerback during his first stop in Philadelphia, has taken his game to another level with New England.
He dominated 1-on-1 drills against top Panthers receivers Robbie Anderson and D.J. Moore, almost had a leaping interception of Baker Mayfield along the sideline, and made arguably the most impressive defensive play of the Patriots' practice -- a perfectly timed breakup of a goal line slant to Moore that helped the defense force a field goal and win a two-minute drill.
"Just confidence in his work ethic," safety Adrian Phillips told reporters after practice when asked what he's seen from Mills this training camp. "He wants to be able to take that next step and be the guy. He carries himself like that…he's stepping into that role. He's doing his thing. He's confident, and he is locked in.
"He's never taken no day off. Every time we come out here, he comes out here and says 'Championship defense, championship mindset.' He's locked in. You can see it in his eyes."
Par for the course, Phillips wouldn't assign Mills the team's No. 1 cornerback title -- the Patriots aren't big on titles, remember?
But there's no doubt Mills wants to be the guy, and his teammates are taking notice: "If it's time to go, he wants to be the guy [the coaches] call on," Phillips added.
Right now, he's playing like the team's No. 1 cornerback without a doubt.
