FOXBORO, Mass. — The New England Patriots’ defense made life remarkably difficult for quarterbacks Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo as practice, and open training camp at Gillette Stadium, came to a close Monday morning.
Brady and Garoppolo failed to complete their final combined eight passes as the Patriots’ offense neared the red zone toward the end of practice. Â Overall, Brady was 16-of-24, Garoppolo went 8-of-15 and third-stringer Jacoby Brissett was just 1-of-2.
The Patriots will travel to West Virginia on Monday afternoon for two joint practices with the Houston Texans, leading up to Saturday’s preseason game. Training camp practices next week will be closed to the public.
Here’s our full list of observations from Mondays toned-down, non-padded practice.
— Cornerbacks Jonathan Jones and Stephon Gilmore and safety Patrick Chung broke up passes. Gilmore’s breakup was over wide receiver Brandin Cooks on a target from Brady. Wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell caught a deep pass over Gilmore on Brady’s next throw.
— Tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Sam Cotton suffered drops Monday morning. Gronkowski’s drop came one rep after Chung broke up a pass from Garoppolo intended for the big tight end.
— Defensive linemen Malcom Brown and Trey Flowers both ran laps after an 11-on-11 set.
— Mitchell and wide receiver Danny Amendola saw an increased workload Monday. Mitchell caught the one catch over Gilmore, while Amendola had three receptions.
— Rookie defensive ends Deatrich Wise and Keionta Davis were present for practice but were wearing sweats and not participating. Wise suffered a head injury Thursday night in the Patriots’ preseason opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Davis was signed Friday afternoon. He hadn’t previously signed with a team because of a bulged disc in his back.
— Wise, Davis, linebacker Dont’a Hightower (physically unable to perform list), offensive tackle Andrew Jelks (non-football injury list), running back Mike Gillislee, offensive tackle Nate Solder and linebacker Shea McClellin also worked on conditioning on the lower field. Only Gillislee and Solder were in uniform.
— Wide receiver Cody Hollister and safety Damarius Travis wore red non-contact jerseys. They might not have participated had it been a fully padded practice. Players were in shells and shorts.
— Defensive tackle Alan Branch was in uniform and returned off the PUP list.
— Linebacker Brandon King, wide receiver Matthew Slater, offensive tackle Antonio Garcia and tight end Matt Lengel were absent from practice.
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
