Thanks to the New York Giants, fans who weren’t in attendance at Thursday’s New England Patriots joint practice outside Gillette Stadium were able to watch an extended sneak peek.
The Giants posted nearly 20 minutes of video from their second practice with the Patriots on their official YouTube channel, including an up-close view of quarterback Cam Newton’s lone series in 11-on-11 drills.
Newton’s eight-play touchdown drive begins at the 7:12 mark of this video, opening with a short completion to receiver Jakobi Meyers in traffic. We then see center David Andrews bowled into Newton by linebacker Oshane Ximines, resulting in an incompletion (that was wiped away by a defensive penalty).
Next, Newton hits Meyers on a crosser for a short gain, then connects with a leaping Kendrick Bourne to pick up 20. His fifth pass is batted down at the line, and his sixth is nearly intercepted by cornerback James Bradberry, with wideout Kristian Wilkerson forced into a defensive role.
But Newton recovers to find Bourne a second time on third down. The receiver is touched down at the 5-yard line, and running back Damien Harris finishes the job with a short touchdown, running between Andrews and right guard Shaq Mason.
This was Newton’s first day back at practice after a COVID-19 protocol “misunderstanding” sidelined him for the previous three.
Since reporters are not permitted to record or post video from Patriots practice outside of a designated window, footage like this rarely is available for public consumption.
The Giants’ practice look-in also captured the brief Giants drive that followed, featuring a big gain from Daniel Jones to wideout Dante Pettis (with slot corner Jonathan Jones, who later left with an injury, in coverage) and a short touchdown pass in front of safety Devin McCourty.
The video cuts out before Patriots quarterback Mac Jones began his marathon 20-play drive that ended in a touchdown pass to Bourne, but an accompanying highlight reel included a few plays from that series.
We see the deep Jones heave that nearly was caught by Gunner Olszewski — in real time, this looked like a clear drop by the Patriots wideout, but Bradberry was able to get a hand in to rip the ball out — and Jones’ interception to former defensive back Logan Ryan.
Ryan undercut an over route by tight end Jonnu Smith. After practice, Jones called this a “good play” by Ryan and said he and the Giants’ other safeties were “just messing around a little bit more and trying to show different looks.”
Jones, who’s battling Newton for the Patriots’ starting job, went 10-for-22 on Thursday after completing 34 of 40 passes in Wednesday’s joint practice. Newton went 4-of-7, including the incompletion that was negated by a penalty.
The Patriots will visit the Giants in their preseason finale Sunday night at MetLife Stadium.
