FOXBORO, Mass. — Before packing up and heading to Green Bay, the New England Patriots held one final practice outside Gillette Stadium on Monday.
Here’s everything we observed:
ATTIRE
Full pads.
ATTENDANCE
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INJURY REPORT
Tight end Mike Gesicki suffered an injury during a rare live 1-on-1 tackling drill. After being brought down by linebacker Jahlani Tavai, Gesicki laid on the turf, grabbed his shoulder and needed to be helped off the field by team trainers. He left practice and did not return.
The severity of Gesicki’s injury wasn’t immediately clear, but losing him for any significant period of time would throw a wrench into Bill O’Brien’s offensive plan. The Patriots are expected to lean heavily on two-tight end sets this season with Gesicki — a de facto jumbo wide receiver — teaming up with Hunter Henry.
New England lost another player later in practice when linebacker Anfernee Jennings sustained what appeared to be a hand/wrist injury while rushing the passer in 11-on-11s. He also received medical attention, exited the practice area and did not return.
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A roster-bubble player this offseason, Jennings has enjoyed a strong camp and was disruptive in last Thursday’s preseason opener. The 2020 third-round draft pick is entering the final year of his rookie contract.
QB REPORT
Mac Jones: 16-for-21 in 11-on-11s
Bailey Zappe: 13-for-19, INT
Malik Cunningham: 0-for-1
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ASSORTED OBSERVATIONS
— Your daily Cunningham update: The undrafted rookie continued to see occasional prominent reps at quarterback, subbing in for five one-snap cameos during team drills. Those reps were, in order, two QB keepers, a rollout incompletion to Tyquan Thornton and two handoffs to Rhamondre Stevenson.
Cunningham has become a media sensation since his impressive debut against the Texans last Thursday, and the Patriots may view the athletic Louisville product as someone who could contribute in a Taysom Hill-esque situational role. But context is important when discussing how he’s been deployed in practice this week.
Yes, Cunningham’s reps are undoubtedly notable for their timing and the personnel he’s had around him on many of them. But he took a grand total of 10 across the last two practices and attempted just one pass. Compare that to 52 reps for Jones and 50 for Zappe during the same span.
Cunningham continued to run through positional drills with the wide receivers, and the Patriots are trying him out on special teams, as well. On Sunday, he returned a kickoff. On Monday, he repped as a punt gunner, logging one nice rep against Shaun Wade that forced a Kayshon Boutte fair catch. Cunningham also saw action at gunner earlier in camp.
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“I don’t know a lot of quarterbacks that are coming in on punts as gunners,” special teams captain Matthew Slater said after practice.
— Jones capped another efficient practice with five straight completions in a simulated two-minute drill, with two of those going to rookie slot receiver Demario Douglas.
Another completion during that stretch was a contested catch along the left sideline by DeVante Parker, who muscled the ball away from the much smaller Marcus Jones.
— Third-string quarterback Trace McSorley’s only 11-on-11 reps came during a scout-team period at the end of practice. He hasn’t seen any full-team reps since the preseason opener, during which he went 1-for-3 for 4 yards and carried once for 3 yards.
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— Kendrick Bourne made the play of the day for New England’s offense, hauling in an excellent one-handed touchdown catch from Jones with Myles Bryant blanketing him.
Bourne, who also caught a short touchdown from Jones in Sunday’s practice, finished with a team-high five receptions on six targets. The veteran wideout said after practice that he’s in the best shape of his life.
JuJu Smith-Schuster added four catches on four targets from Jones.
— Wade delivered the top defensive play, knifing in to undercut a Zappe pass on a running back screen for what would have been a pick-six.
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It was the second interception in the last five practices for Wade, who’s played cornerback, slot and safety in camp. The Ohio State product has been around the ball a lot, albeit against New England’s offensive backups.
— It took 14 practices, but Thornton finally caught a pass from Jones in 11-on-11 drills for the first time this summer. The drought-breaking reception came on a wide receiver screen.
Thornton, who’s looking to climb back up the depth chart after a disappointing start to camp, also caught two passes on three targets from Zappe.
— Riley Reiff got a long look at right guard for the second straight practice. The 34-year-old has played more than 9,000 regular-season snaps in his NFL career, and exactly zero of them were at guard, per Pro Football Focus.
The Patriots might only be playing him there since Onwenu, Strange and Russey all weren’t participating, but it was odd to see him repping at an unfamiliar spot when the depth at his natural position still is so unsettled.
Reiff looked like the top option at right tackle at the outset of camp. Then, it shifted to Conor McDermott. Now, rookie Sidy Sow, who played the vast majority of his collegiate snaps at guard, seems to be leading that important roster battle.
Four-fifths of the line should be set once the Patriots get everyone healthy — from left: Trent Brown, Strange, David Andrews and Onwenu — but that right tackle spot remains a giant question mark.
It’s also worth noting we still don’t know when Onwenu will be back as he recovers from offseason ankle surgery. Head coach Bill Belichick wouldn’t say whether he expects the Patriots’ lineman to return in time for Week 1, calling Onwenu “day to day.”
— This was a standout practice from Jake Andrews, and not in a positive way. The rookie center/guard had to run a lap after what appeared to be a false start or snap infraction, and he later fired a shotgun snap past Zappe.
Andrews was picked ahead of fellow first-year linemen Sow and Atonio Mafi, but his performance this summer has been the worst of the three.
— One rookie who could make a run at a roster spot based on special teams ability: Ameer Speed. The sixth-round pick out of Michigan State saw a lot of work as the personal protector on the punt team — an important kicking-game role.
— The Patriots closed out practice with an annual training camp tradition: rookie punt returns. Sow came up empty on his attempt, but Mafi and defensive end Keion White both caught theirs, drawing cheers from the rest of the roster.
Mafi is a former rugby player, and White began his college career as a tight end, so catching the ball isn’t foreign to them.
Players hoped that 2-for-3 showing would convince Belichick to call off evening meetings, allowing them to spend some extra time at home before hitting the road for two weeks.
UP NEXT
The Patriots are scheduled to fly to Green Bay on Thursday. They’ll practice with the Packers on Wednesday and Thursday, play a preseason game at Lambeau Field on Saturday night and then travel straight to Nashville to do the same with the Tennessee Titans.
Featured image via Zack Cox/NESN
