Patriots Training Camp Observations: Everything We Saw On Day 7

FOXBORO, Mass. — Score one for the New England Patriots’ offense on Wednesday.

Here’s everything we observed on Day 7 of training camp:

ATTIRE
Full pads.

ATTENDANCE
— There was no sign of starting left guard Cole Strange, who hasn’t practiced since suffering an apparent leg injury on Monday. A Boston Globe report indicated that injury was not considered serious, but it’s now kept Strange off the field on back-to-back days.

Strange eventually made his way out to the field to watch team drills.

— Outside linebacker Matthew Judon, offensive tackle Trent Brown and running back Rhamondre Stevenson all were limited, departing for the side conditioning field shortly after warmups. Those are three of the Patriots’ most important players, and the team has limited their workloads throughout camp.

That’s rare for Bill Belichick, who has long subscribed to an “if you’re healthy, you practice” philosophy.

Judon and Brown did not participate in team drills. Stevenson returned late in practice for a non-competitive two-minute drill.

“(They’re) just trying to decrease my workload,” Stevenson said after practice. “Honestly, you’ve got to ask Bill Belichick. I don’t know why I’m not (practicing). You’ve got to ask Bill, really.”

— Special teams captain Matthew Slater, wide receiver Tyquan Thornton, safety Brad Hawkins, tight end Scotty Washington and offensive lineman Chasen Hines also headed down to the lower field early in practice.

Hawkins, Washington and Hines have dealt with injuries this summer, but Slater and Thornton had been full participants. This was the latest development in what’s been a disappointing start to camp for Thornton, who has yet to catch a pass from Mac Jones in competitive full-team drills.

— Receiver/running back Ty Montgomery missed his fourth straight practice, but he appeared to take a step forward in his rehab. He suffered an undisclosed injury on Day 3 of camp.

Linebacker Terez Hall remained sidelined.

— Right guard Mike Onwenu (physically unable to perform list), special teamer Cody Davis (PUP) and offensive tackle Calvin Anderson (non-football injury list) have yet to practice this summer.

Anderson did make an appearance at practice, however, observing 11-on-11s alongside Strange and Brown.

INJURY REPORT
Defensive lineman DaMarcus Mitchell limped to the medical shed during an early walkthrough period and did not return.

QB REPORT
Mac Jones: 13-for-15 in 11-on-11 drills

Bailey Zappe: 11-for-13

Trace McSorley: 4-for-6

This was the best day yet for the Patriots’ offense, with all three quarterbacks delivering encouraging performances.

Jones and the first-team offense looked as smooth and efficient as they have at any point in training camp. Jones completed passes to eight different receivers: three to JuJu Smith-Schuster, two each to Hunter Henry and Mike Gesicki, and single completions to DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne, Pierre Strong, Kevin Harris and rookie Kayshon Boutte.

The top unit again found success in the red zone — its bugaboo in the first several camp practices — with Jones hitting Parker for a contested touchdown over Christian Gonzalez and Smith-Schuster for a tiptoe score in the back of the end zone. One of his two incompletions was a goal-line throwaway on his final pass of practice.

On Smith-Schuster’s touchdown, Jones audibled at the line to attack a coverage that’s given New England’s offense problems in camp, illustrating his growing comfort in new coordinator Bill O’Brien’s scheme. He celebrated with a touchdown dance.

“Mac called a good play against a good defensive call, and it worked in our favor,” said Smith-Schuster, who was wide open in the end zone.

Zappe also enjoyed a strong day after scuffling a bit on Tuesday. A fair number of his completions were checkdowns, but the second-year pro also had the prettiest pass of the day, launching a 40-yard bomb to Tre Nixon to beat the usually stingy Jack Jones in coverage.

Even McSorley, who’s been erratic throughout camp, had some nice moments with well-placed completions to Thyrick Pitts and Anthony Firkser. He missed badly on his second pass to Pitts, however, throwing behind the Patriots’ newest receiver to give rookie cornerback Isaiah Bolden an easy interception.

ASSORTED OBSERVATIONS
— Another day, another strong showing by Demario Douglas.

The early camp sensation looked excellent in the first receiver/cornerback 1-on-1s of the summer, showing ace route-running ability and catch-point concentration on wins over Marcus Jones and Shaun Wade. He later caught a pass and took an end-around handoff from Zappe in team drills.

Days like that are becoming the norm for Douglas, who appears to be surging toward a roster spot as a sixth-round rookie. But for the first time this summer, the Patriots’ other Round 6 wideout also flashed.

This was easily the best practice yet for Boutte, the former LSU standout who tumbled in the draft due to coachability concerns. Largely quiet for the first six days, Boutte beat Gonzalez and Jonathan Jones — who might be New England’s two starting cornerbacks to open the season — in 1-on-1s and caught a pass from Mac Jones in team drills for the first time this summer.

Boutte acknowledged after practice that his Patriots career got off to a slow start, but he said he’s gaining confidence and feeling more comfortable. Some positive progress for the former five-star recruit.

— Speaking of rookies, Marte Mapu continued to impress as a versatile defensive playmaker. He’s bounced between linebacker and safety alignments and frequently finds himself around the ball.

Mapu helped force both of Zappe’s incompletions, breaking up a pass to Douglas and later applying tight coverage on Firkser in the back of the end zone. The tight end made the catch but couldn’t get his feet down in bounds. Mapu also shot in for a would-be tackle for loss on a swing pass to Pierre Strong — his second in the last two practices — and blanketed Matt Sokol for a PBU in 1-on-1s.

On that TFL, Zappe’s pass may have been tipped by rookie edge rusher Keion White, who also popped in pass-rush drills.

The Patriots still have Mapu, who’s coming off a pre-draft pectoral tear, practicing in a red non-contact jersey, but he’s seemingly had no limitations otherwise. He’ll be a fascinating player to watch in next Thursday’s preseason opener against Houston if the coaches feel he’s healthy enough for live tackling.

— Bourne was quiet in team drills — his lone target came on Jones’ third attempt — but impressive in 1-on-1s. He swept two reps against Jack Jones, including one that saw him create more than 5 yards of separation with a slick cut.

The wideouts scored an overall win over the corners in 1-on-1s, resulting in a round of pushups for the defense and some trash-talking from both sides. Parker closed out the period by beating tight coverage by Gonzalez.

Gonzalez is on track to be a Week 1 starter, but this was not his best practice. Ditto for Jack Jones, who had his shakiest day of camp while rotating between the first and second units.

— The Patriots made a change to their makeshift offensive line. When they took the field for the first round of competitive team drills, rookie Atonio Mafi was at right guard in place of Onwenu, and Kody Russey was at left guard in place of Strange.

The previous two practices had featured Mafi at left guard and Bill Murray — the primary replacement for Onwenu since the start of the spring — at right guard. But Murray, who struggled in 1-on-1s early on Wednesday’s session, was with the backups in this one.

Russey spent last season on the Patriots’ practice squad as an undrafted rookie.

Riley Reiff and Conor McDermott again were the top options at left and right tackle, respectively, as the Patriots continued to operate without 3/5ths of their starting O-line. Rookie Sidy Sow also got a look at right tackle with the top group during a goal-line period.

Ideally, they’ll have a group of (from left) Brown, Strange, David Andrews, Onwenu and McDermott/Reiff/Anderson available for Week 1.

— Linebacker Jahlani Tavai took more reps as a goal-line fullback. The Patriots don’t have a traditional fullback on their roster, so they’ll need to get creative if they want to use a short-yardage lead blocker this season.

So far, Tavai has been the answer there.

— During multiple kickoff periods, Smith-Schuster, Parker, Bourne and Henry worked on red-zone route combinations with the Patriots’ QBs and O’Brien.

— Marcus Jones typically reps with the returners in every special teams period, so it was interesting to see him working 1-on-1 with assistant cornerbacks coach V’Angelo Bentley while the Patriots were repping kick returns.

Douglas, Bolden and J.J. Taylor handled kick-return duties.

UP NEXT
The Patriots are scheduled to practice Thursday morning at 9:45 a.m. ET, then hold their annual in-stadium practice for Foxboro residents and season-ticket holders Friday evening.