Patriots Training Camp Observations: Malcolm Butler Picks Off Tom Brady

FOXBORO, Mass. — It took five practices for Tom Brady to throw his first interception of training camp.

Brady was targeting wide receiver Josh Boyce in 11-on-11 drills when Malcolm Butler jumped the slant route and picked off his starting quarterback. Butler said over the weekend that he dares Brady to throw at him in practice. That dare paid off for the second-year cornerback.

— Brady was 7 of 8 in 7-on-7 drills and 15 of 21 with an interception in 11-on-11s.

— Backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was 3 of 7 with an interception in 7-on-7 drills and 13 of 18 in 11-on-11s.

— Safety Nate Ebner picked off Garoppolo on an errant throw to tight end Jimmay Mundine.

— The Patriots’ defensive backs got the best of the wide receivers in 1-on-1 drills. Here are the results with Brady throwing:
-CB Bradley Fletcher beat Boyce
-CB Logan Ryan beat WR Danny Amendola
-Butler beat WR Aaron Dobson
-WR Brandon Gibson beat CB Tarell Brown
-CB Robert McClain beat WR Jonathan Krause
-CB Darryl Roberts beat WR Brian Tyms
-Boyce beat CB Jimmy Jean
-S Patrick Chung beat Amendola
-Gibson beat Fletcher
-CB Daxton Swanson beat Dobson
-Krause beat S Tavon Wilson
-Boyce beat Brown
-Ryan beat Amendola
-Butler beat Tyms
-Gibson beat Jean

Here are the results with Garoppolo throwing:
-Dobson beat Brown
-Amendoal beat Wilson
-Butler beat Boyce
-Tyms dropped a pass with Fletcher in coverage
-Krause beat Chung
-Roberts beat Gibson
-Brown beat Dobson
-Ryan beat Amendola
-McCourty beat Boyce
-Jean beat Tyms
-Krause beat McClain
-Gibson beat Swanson
-Dobson dropped a pass with Fletcher in coverage

— Tyms was carted off midway through practice after appearing to injure his right arm during an individual contact drill.

— Linebacker Eric Martin continues to stand out as a pass rusher. The 23-year-old is an undersized journeyman, but he’s making an impact early in camp. He played for the New Orleans Saints and Cleveland Browns during the first two years of his career but only received limited snaps.

— The Patriots’ offense was 1 of 4 in goal line drills. Running back LeGarrette Blount was stuffed twice and Brady threw an incompletion. Jonas Gray scored the lone touchdown on the ground.

Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images