FOXBORO, Mass. — Coach Bill Belichick essentially gave Tom Brady the day off on the New England Patriots quarterback’s 40th birthday.
Brady didn’t participate in any team drills during Day 7 of Patriots training camp. Instead, Brady worked on a lower field Thursday with his starting offense and the top secondary.
The group included tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Dwayne Allen; running backs James White and Brandon Bolden; wide receivers Julian Edelman, Brandin Cooks and Danny Amendola; offensive linemen Joe Thuney, David Andrews, Marcus Cannon and Shaq Mason; safeties Devin McCourty and Patrick Chung, and cornerbacks Stephon Gilmore and Malcolm Butler.
Here are other observations from practice.
— Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo completed 22 of 37 passes with an interception overall and was 6 of 14 with a pick in 11-on-11s. Jacoby Brissett was 19 of 28 with an interception overall and 8 of 12 with a pick in 11-on-11s.
— Cornerback Eric Rowe and safety Nate Ebner intercepted passes.
— Safety Jason Thompson recorded two pass breakups. Cornerbacks Kenny Moore, Will Likely and D.J. Killings and safety Damarius Travis had one apiece.
— Running back Dion Lewis, wide receiver Austin Carr, tight end Matt Lengel and fullback James Develin dropped passes.
— Both the entire offense and the entire defense had to take laps during the first 11-on-11 drill session. Defensive end Kony Ealy took a lap for jumping during a 1-on-1 pass-rush drill.
— Defensive end Trey Flowers dominated rookie offensive lineman Jason King during 1-on-1s. It wasn’t even fair. Rookie offensive tackle Conor McDermott stood out positively in 1-on-1s. Rookie defensive end Deatrich Wise has been better than fellow first-year pro Derek Rivers in the pass-rush drills.
— Running back D.J. Foster made a one-handed grab during 1-on-1 catching drills.
— Wide receivers Matthew Slater and Cody Hollister and offensive tackle Nate Solder were absent from practice. Slater didn’t finish Wednesday’s session.
— Edelman and wideout Chris Hogan, both of whom got banged up Wednesday, were present for practice. Hogan wore a wrap on his right knee.
— Linebacker Dont’a Hightower (physically unable to perform list), defensive tackle Alan Branch (PUP list) and offensive tackle Andrew Jelks (non-football injury list) were present but wearing sweats, not full uniforms and pads like the rest of their teammates.
— Running back Mike Gillislee, Hogan, wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell, tight end James O’Shaughnessy and safeties Duron Harmon and David Jones worked on the lower practice field, away from teammates.
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
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