The Patriots' post-Memorial Day practice might as well have been a walkthrough given the lack of actual football that took place. Of course, knowing who New England's coach is, the decision to invite the media to such an intentionally light day is hardly coincidence.
Instead of 7-on-7s or mildly competitive team segments, the Patriots mainly just did a lot of conditioning, a few routes, and play installations.
But as always, there were a couple things to take note of from Tuesday's practice at Gillette Stadium -- the fourth so far of OTAs -- ahead of next week's mandatory minicamp.
Roll call
The Patriots had only one less player (11) miss Tuesday's OTAs than last Monday's initial practice. Among the players who didn't make appearances in either session are Matthew Judon, Isaiah Wynn, N'Keal Harry, Byron Cowart, Quinn Nordin and rookie offensive linemen Chasen Hines and Andrew Stueber. Other additions to Tuesday's list were Trent Brown, Davon Godchaux, James White, and Anfernee Jennings.
Judging by Brown and Godchaux having been available on the first day of OTAs, Tuesday might have just been a veteran maintenance day for both. Also, White was at the facility on Tuesday despite not practicing.
Returning to practice this week were Adrian Phillips, who spoke to media after practice, Lawrence Guy, Jahlani Tavai, and Harvey Langi.
The true test of Patriots practice attendance will be when mandatory minicamp begins next Tuesday.
Tyquan Thornton takes the stage.
After not taking much part in last Monday's session, Thornton spent the whole day on the practice field with the team Tuesday.
He clearly looks like he's behind the top four receivers -- Jakobi Meyers, Nelson Agholor, Kendrick Bourne, and DeVante Parker -- and he also has plenty of work to do on both his body and his technique.
At one point while running an out route during receiver drills, a coach yelled at Thornton to use his arms more when coming out of his break -- something Thornton acknowledged after practice he needs to do better at: "The arms are your bread and butter. You need to use them to get in and out of breaks."
Thornton's speed and quick feet are obvious. You can see it as soon as he gets moving off the line of scrimmage and the way his long legs eat up space as he gets into his running.
Asked if people have been challenging him to races since he joined the team, he replied, "Not after that 4.2." Thornton's 4.2-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine was the fastest time of any receiver from this year's draft.
But his technique is still raw, and his body isn't NFL-ready at a toothpick-like 6-foot-2 and 181 pounds.
He said getting stronger will be a big focus as a rookie and going into next season, though he acknowledged he's not likely to massively change his body: "This is my body type...been thin all my life."
One thing Thornton's not worried about, though: having small wrists, which has been an odd media fixation after The Athletic's Dane Brugler noted it in his pre-draft profile on the Baylor receiver.
"What you using your wrists for?" he said with a smile when asked if his wrist size has ever affected his game.
For certain, his ability to master the route tree and play through contact should be much more important to his future in the NFL than having tiny wrists.
Bill Belichick shows "same intensity" at practice
Anyone who has doubts about how Belichick’s advancing age would change his approach to coaching should get a load of him on the practice field.
During a drill simulating route adjustments against zone coverage, the 70-year-old Super Bowl-winning coach could be seen dropping into coverage as a slot cornerback/outside linebacker to give his offense a look.
This past weekend, ESPN's Mike Reiss relayed a quote from veteran safety Devin McCourty that neatly summed that moment up: "[Belichick's] the model of consistency. Showing up to your job every day, having the same attitude, the same messaging, and being able to do that over and over again is hard. He continues to come in here, Day 1 of OTAs, for however many years it is, and it's the same intensity."
Newly returned cornerback Malcolm Butler added something similar after practice on Tuesday: "Nothing's changed about [Belichick] but his age."
Similar to last week, Belichick was once again heavily involved with the offensive coaching, serving as an overseer to Matt Patricia and Joe Judge seemed to largely run the first-team offense. Though things are subject to change, it feels like the Patriots are gearing up to have Patricia and Judge serve as run and pass-game coordinators, respectively, with Belichick being the de facto offensive coordinator and delegating play-calling duties as he sees fit.
The Patriots' offensive line intrigue deepens.
Trent Brown's absence meant the Patriots were without both of their starting tackles with Wynn gone from practice for the second consecutive week.
That brought backup tackle Yodny Cajuste into the equation to sub in for the mountainous Brown.
Specifically, Cajuste spent Tuesday's glorified walkthrough at left tackle, which was the spot Brown manned last Monday on Day 1 of OTAs. That means Justin Herron was rooted at right tackle for the second straight practice media have been allowed to see.
Herron played both left and right tackle last year, so it's conceivable he can play whichever spot is needed. But keeping him on the right side with both Brown and Wynn out suggests the Patriots might be gearing up to make right tackle Herron's primary home this year, with Brown potentially replacing Wynn at left tackle and Wynn moving elsewhere -- whether that means a new position or new team.
Mandatory minicamp could provide more answers to this situation. Then again, if Wynn isn't with the first team at left tackle immediately upon his return or Herron starts subbing in with the top line more than expected, there could also be even more questions.
