Patriots FW: Andy Hart mini-camp reactions - New England Patriots Forums

BPF · 05-01-2009, 05:01 PM

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Fresh off the first day of rookie mini-camp, here are my initial thoughts and reactions from the two practices that took place in dreary, breezy weather on the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium. The practices took place in shorts, helmets and jerseys. There were 30 bodies on the field including the 12 draft picks, five signed rookie free agents, three first-year veterans (TE Brad Listorti, LB Angelo Craig and OL Ryan Wendell) as well as 10 unamed tryout players.

– Darius Butler had an up-and-down day. He’s been sold to us as an elite athlete with impressive experience in all three phases of the game. I thought he struggled a little bit today, especially during the morning workout. I expected to see a natural athlete who stood out greatly from each of the other 29 players on the field. I didn’t. He dropped a couple punts, got beat by a couple tryout WRs and just didn’t look as smooth and fluid as I expected. He bounced back with a much better afternoon practice, though. He made a couple nice breaks on the ball in the second session. He had much tighter coverage.

– Brian Hoyer looked pretty good throwing the ball. He doesn’t have a cannon, but seems to have the arm to make most of the throws. It was a little windy and wet, and I think a few balls slipped out of his hands. But overall I thought he looked OK with less-than-desirable group of WRs running routes for him. He has a chance to be competitive in training camp and could stick around at the third QB.

–As I said above, the receivers struggled. Many were slipping all over the field including No. 15 (a tryout) and seventh-round pick Julian Edelman. The QB-turned-WR from Kent slipped a number of times in his breaks working as a slot receiver. He also had trouble catching the ball in both sessions. He is clearly very fast, but doesn’t look great in the open field. (Is there anything but open field in a non-contact rookie mini-camp?) He’s an athlete at this point in his career more than he is a skill player. He had a tough day. Overall the WRs need to have a better day tomorrow coming in and out of their breaks, keeping from slipping and catching the football.

–My boy Sebastian “Sea Bass” Vollmer is wearing some sort of tape/protective thing on his nose. He’s huge. And not fat like many offensive lineman. He’s a very imposing figure. While the linemen work out on the far end of the practice field opposite the media area, he looked to have decent feet. He’s a guy to keep an eye on in camp if he can get acclimated to the system.

–As expected OL Rich Ohrnberger looks like he’s being groomed at both guard and center. He stayed after practice in the afternoon to take some extra snaps.

–The day saw the practice debut of a lot of new coaches as well. Special teams coach Scott O’Brien, quarterbacks coach Bill O’Brien, wide recievers coach Chad O’Shea, tight ends coach Shane Waldron and secondary coach are new to their roles, if not the team, this spring. It’ll be interesting to see how they work in not only with the young players but also the veterans when they get together for mini-camp in early June.

–A tryout punter wearing No. 2 struggled for much of the day. He couldn’t get his kicks to turn over and had a number shank off his foot.

–S Patrick Chung is impressive, even in shorts. He’s quick, intense and looks like he wants to hit someone. He seems to have an air of energy everywhere he goes. He had it yesterday at the photo op and press conference. It was even more evident today on the practice field. Plus I thought he looked good in coverage.

–WR Brandon Tate was at both sessions, watching from the sidelines or edges of the action. He’s recovering from the ACL/MCL injury that cut short his season last October and helped the Patriots land a high-level talent in the third round of the draft. Asked where Tate was at at this point in the process during his mid-day press conference Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick joked, “I think he’s down at lunch right now.”

–Four of the 17 players actually listed on the mini-camp roster hail from a school that starts with Kent — two from Kentucky and two from Kent State.

–Stephen Neal worked out so well the Patriots signed another wrestler in Kent State’s Jermail Porter. He’s a big dude at 6-5, 310. He’s wearing a white jersey at camp, which signifies offense, but it’s No. 91. Weird mix for a guy, of course the team probably doesn’t really know what he is right now. He spent plenty of extra one-on-one time with Dante Scarnecchia after the second session. Is there anyone you’d rather having working with a big-bodied, athletic project than Scar?

–The veteran TE Brad Listori, a first-year player out of Massachusetts, was the best player on the field in the morning session. He did not dress for the afternoon, watching the workouts while dressed in sweats.

–With just one quarterback at practice, Patriots Director of Player Personnel Nick Caserio did some throwing to the WRs. The former John Carroll QB still has it. It is a strong, accurate arm. If they ever get in a pinch under center I think he should sign himself!

–DL Myron Pryor limped off a break-off tackling drill reaching for his right calf. He was tended to by trainers. It did not look overly serious and may have been a cramp based on the way he looked to be walking it off.

–The offense struggled a bit in the morning, have to re-huddle a number of times before taking a punishment lap. Overall the execution on that side of the ball, as expected when throwing a group of new rookies together, was a bit sloppy. It picked up a bit in the afternoon.

–So one day in, here’s the guys I like: Listorti, Hoyer, Chung Tyrone McKenzie, Vollmer and Porter. The last guy got on the list because he’s huge, fills out the jersey and as a former wrestler could easily kick my butt. Check back tomorrow for more observations from another pair of rookie mini-camp workouts.

patsox23 · 05-01-2009, 05:10 PM

good stuff, thanks for posting, you're welcome for bumping.

patsox23 · 05-01-2009, 05:14 PM

Official Patriots Football Weekly Blog Blog Archive First impressions

This is the direct link to Paul's impressions of the afternoon session. Good stuff, as always.

Jimke · 05-01-2009, 05:15 PM

I was hoping we had a promising punter in Perez (6th rated)

but I guess not.

***BelichickFan*** · 05-01-2009, 05:16 PM

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Originally Posted by patsox23

Official Patriots Football Weekly Blog Blog Archive First impressions

This is the direct link to Paul's impressions of the afternoon session. Good stuff, as always.

Yeah, that's worth reading if Hart's comments on Butler worried you at all.

tombonneau · 05-01-2009, 05:17 PM

Great to read that stuff.

Vollmer is my surprise player. I don't expect him to displace Kaczur barring injury, but if Kaczur gets dinged, Vollmer might go in and never look back.

Love that Chung looks the part. Even though it's the first day, the guys who look like they get it usually tend to pan out. (Thinking back to Branch anyway ...)

Stinks that Edelman sounds like a huge project, though guess that was expected. Maybe he can catch on as a pure return guy?

Mixed news on Butler could be better, could be worse.

drew4008 · 05-01-2009, 05:18 PM

Has there been any audio/video yet of Chung or any of the other picks in interviews? I remember in previous years they had tele-conferences shortly after being picked, but I can't find anything like that yet.

patsox23 · 05-01-2009, 05:24 PM

check Official Website of the New England Patriots - they have all the audio video stuff.

***BelichickFan*** · 05-01-2009, 05:26 PM

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Originally Posted by tombonneau

Love that Chung looks the part. Even though it's the first day, the guys who look like they get it usually tend to pan out. (Thinking back to Branch anyway ...)

Agreed - although Chad Jackson wowed them in shorts

Quote:

Originally Posted by tombonneau

Stinks that Edelman sounds like a huge project, though guess that was expected. Maybe he can catch on as a pure return guy?

I expect him to be released and hopefully signed to the practice squad where he can try to develop his skills and help practice against the wildcat.

***BelichickFan*** · 05-01-2009, 05:34 PM

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Originally Posted by tombonneau

Love that Chung looks the part. Even though it's the first day, the guys who look like they get it usually tend to pan out. (Thinking back to Branch anyway ...)

Quote:

Originally Posted by BelichickFan

Agreed - although Chad Jackson wowed them in shorts

I should add to that, Jackson ended up being a bust because he was a dummy (and maybe the ACL tear slowed him down I don't know about that); from even the most negative reports about Chung, intelligence and desire will not be an issue so flashing solid athleticism is VERY encouraging with him because that's the only real question about him, how athletic he is.