FOXBORO, Mass. — Julian Edelman was conspicuously absent when the New England Patriots started to warm up for their second joint practice with the New Orleans Saints.
Then, 15 minutes after the rest of his teammates took the field Wednesday, Edelman made a surprise appearance. He only stuck around through positional drills and departed to a side field before the Patriots and Saints began 1-on-1 drills. He was running and cutting in positional drills despite leaving practice early Tuesday.
Here what else we noticed from the mostly half-speed session:
— Quarterback Tom Brady was 4 of 5 in 7-on-7s. Backup Jimmy Garoppolo was 1 of 4. One of his incompletions was dropped by wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell.
— Rookie QB Jacoby Brissett was 8 of 9 in 11-on-11s to end practice.
— Saints starter Drew Brees was 5 of 6 in 7-on-7s. Backup Luke McCown was 3 of 3. Third-stringer Garrett Grayson was 7 of 9 in 11-on-11s. Rookie cornerback Jonathan Jones broke up a pass during the drill.
— Receivers Aaron Dobson (two), Nate Washington (three), DeAndre Carter (two), Chris Hogan and Devin Lucien won 1-on-1 drills against Saints defenders. Hogan also lost a rep.
— Patriots rookie cornerbacks V’Angelo Bentley and Cre’von LeBlanc won 1-on-1 reps. E.J. Biggers, Bentley, Malcolm Butler and Darryl Roberts lost.
— Chris Long and Shea McClellin both saw increased reps with Rob Ninkovich (torn tricep) out of practice. Long lined up at left defensive end, while McClellin was at linebacker.
— Second-year pro Shaq Mason took starting reps at right guard while Josh Kline focused on center.
— Wide receiver Keshawn Martin, running backs D.J. Foster and Donald Brown and defensive tackles Anthony Johnson and Frank Kearse worked with trainers on a side field during team drills.
Thumbnail photo via Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports Images
