Patriots Training Camp Observations: Everything We Saw On Day 6

FOXBORO, Mass. — The New England Patriots held their sixth practice of training camp Tuesday morning. Here’s everything we observed during the abbreviated session:

ATTIRE
Helmets and shells.

After a fully padded practice Monday that featured a number of player injuries, the Patriots eased up Tuesday. They followed the same schedule last summer, throttling back after their first day in pads. Expect another full-contact session Wednesday morning.

This also was a shorter practice, lasting about 90 minutes and wrapping up around 11:15 a.m. ET.

ATTENDANCE
The good news: Cole Strange was present at the start of practice after suffering an apparent leg injury on Monday. The bad news: The second-year left guard did not participate in any drills. The Boston Globe reported his injury is not considered serious, but it caused him to miss at least this one practice.

The Patriots were down a total of three offensive line starters. Left tackle Trent Brown retired to a side field for conditioning work after warmups for the second consecutive day, and right guard Mike Onwenu remained sidelined as he recovers from offseason ankle surgery.

Also absent Tuesday:

WR Jalen Hurd
WR/RB Ty Montgomery
ST Cody Davis
S Brad Hawkins
LB Terez Hall
OL Chasen Hines
OT Calvin Anderson

Hurd, Hawkins and Hines all sustained injuries during Monday’s practice. This was the fourth straight missed practice for Montgomery and the second for Hall. Davis and Anderson, like Onwenu, have yet to take the field this summer.

Bill Belichick said before practice that he can’t predict whether Anderson, who is on the non-football illness list, will be able to return in time for the season, noting he both is not a doctor and does not have a “crystal ball.”

Tight end Scotty Washington was limited after getting dinged up Monday. Rookie linebacker/safety Marte Mapu continued to practice in a red non-contact jersey.

Fourth-round rookie O-lineman Jake Andrews returned after sitting out the previous two practices.

QB REPORT
Mac Jones: 3-for-4 in 7-on-7 drills; 8-for-10 in 11-on-11s

Bailey Zappe: 4-for-4; 5-for-10

Trace McSorley: 3-for-4; 3-for-4, INT

There were a few hiccups for Jones in this practice. In 7-on-7s, he had an ill-advised pass into the end zone to JuJu Smith-Schuster that was nearly intercepted by Marcus Jones. Later, in full-team drills, he didn’t put quite enough air on a throw to a crossing Mike Gesicki, allowing linebacker Mack Wilson to make a leaping pass breakup, then overshot Kendrick Bourne when the receiver had a step on Marcus Jones deep.

Overall, though, this was a solid day for New England’s starting quarterback, with the highlights coming at the start and end of 11-and-11s. He opened those with what might have been his best pass of training camp to date: a perfectly placed dart to DeVante Parker down the left sideline. Parker outmuscled rookie cornerback Christian Gonzalez and got both feet down for a big-play completion.

Jones closed practice by going 3-for-4 in the red zone, which has been an area of concern for the Patriots’ offense throughout camp. He found running back Rhamondre Stevenson and tight end Hunter Henry for touchdowns, bookending those around a goal-line PBU by Jack Jones.

Henry has been Jones’ top target through the first six practices.

Zappe was less efficient in team drills and frequently was under pressure, taking at least three would-be “sacks” in around a dozen 11-on-11 reps.

McSorley attempted just four passes in full-team drills, the last of which was intercepted by safety Joshuah Bledsoe at the goal line. He got some additional work with the scout-team offense and defense while the established players went through their post-practice stretch.

ASSORTED NOTES
— Outside linebacker Matthew Judon and Stevenson were back in the mix on Day 6 after spending most of Monday’s practice on the conditioning field. Both took part in team drills.

The Patriots have managed the workloads of their offensive and defensive MVPs, neither of whom appears to dealing with any sort of injury.

— The top O-line with Brown, Strange and Onwenu out featured (from left) Riley Reiff, rookie Atonio Mafi, David Andrews, Bill Murray and Conor McDermott. That’s the same group we saw for most of Monday’s practice.

Concerning? Definitely. Mafi and Murray have yet to play an offensive snap at the NFL level, and Reiff and McDermott both started last season on the bench.

The Patriots’ projected starting five is respectable and should be an improvement over what they had last season, but they badly need those players to be healthy and available. There’s not a lot of proven depth here.

— Tyquan Thornton was not targeted in competitive drills. Bourne saw just one target: the aforementioned deep-ball incompletion.

It’s been a quiet camp so far for New England’s projected third and fourth receivers. Neither has caught a pass from Jones in 11-on-11s.

— We’ve already written about how Bill O’Brien’s new Patriots offense should rely much more heavily on two-tight end sets than its Matt Patricia- and Josh McDaniels-led predecessors.

Another apparent hallmark of O’Brien’s scheme: motion. The Patriots have used a ton of it in camp. One variety features a wide receiver motioning into the backfield only to plant and sprint back toward the sideline at or just before the snap.

“It puts a lot (of stress) on (the defense),” safety Adrian Phillips said after practice. “… When you start adding those missle motions, the arc motions, the shifts, the hard counts, it makes it that much harder, and it makes the communication that much more vital, because if you don’t communicate, you see guys popping up out of the ground 40 yards downfield.

“We don’t want to see that right now, but we want to see it during the season.”

NFL fans are used to seeing those types of looks from players like Tyreek Hill, but the Patriots rarely used motion in that way under previous coordinators. They ranked 26th in the NFL in rate of motion at the snap last season (just 10.8% of offensive plays), per ESPN’s Seth Walder, and were near the bottom in 2021, as well.

I think relevant in light of those Chiefs Super Bowl touchdowns: motion at the snap and overall motion rates for every team this year, postseason included.

Data via @ESPNStatsInfo video tracking team. pic.twitter.com/A8F0eru093

— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) February 13, 2023

Based on what we’ve seen so far, that number should shoot up this season.

— There’s been one constant at cornerback for the Patriots’ top defensive unit this summer: Gonzalez, who’s exclusively worked with the starters since the start of camp. The highly touted first-round draft pick lost a jump ball to Parker early in Tuesday’s practice but has looked very good overall.

The other starting outside cornerback spot is less settled. Jonathan Jones, Jack Jones and Marcus Jones all are in the mix there, with Jack seeing more prominent reps of late after repping mostly with and against backups for the first few days of camp. Jonathan Jones and Marcus Jones also both have seen action in the slot, where they’re competing with Myles Bryant.

Jack Jones, whose availability remains a question mark as he awaits his Aug. 18 court date, is off to a great start from an on-field perspective. The second-year pro has broken up at least one pass in four of New England’s six camp practices and rarely has been beaten in coverage. His goal-line PBU on Tuesday came against Parker.

It’s worth noting, though, that Jones got checked out by team trainer Jim Whalen at the end of practice. He had his left wrist/thumb taped. That’s something to monitor as next Thursday’s preseason opener approaches.

— Bryant smothered tight end Anthony Firkser on a comeback route for a pass breakup. He also had another inadvertent PBU when a Zappe pass bounced off his back on what appeared to be a botched screen.

— The Patriots seem to have big plans for Mapu. Though he hasn’t yet shed his non-contact jersey, the Sacramento State product has seen frequent work with the defensive regulars and has maintained the versatility he showed in the spring, lining up at both linebacker and safety.

Teammates have raved about Mapu’s intelligence and eagerness to learn. He’s also a highly instinctive player, which he showed off when he shot past an attempted block by Smith-Schuster and dropped Stevenson for a would-be tackle for loss.

Even in a practice that featured no live blocking or tackling, it was a head-turning play by one of the Patriots’ most fascinating rookies.

— Wilson’s airborne PBU was the play of the day for New England’s defense. The linebacker also snuffed out a Zappe pass to Kayshon Boutte at the goal line late in practice.

Wilson fell out of the Patriots’ defensive rotation entirely down the stretch last season, but he looks poised to play a larger role in Year 2 with the franchise. The 25-year-old Alabama product has been a quiet camp standout thus far.

— Marcus Jones, Demario Douglas, Kyle Dugger and Jabrill Peppers took turns returning kicks.

Douglas’ brightest flashes this summer have come as a receiver, route-runner and blocker, but the impressive rookie wideout also has been used as a kick and/or punt returner in every practice so far.

UP NEXT
Wednesday’s practice is scheduled to begin at 9:45 a.m. ET.