DefenseRules
Pro Bowl Player
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2005
- Messages
- 13,773
- Reaction score
- 2,673
http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/s...08/08/11/practice-observations-a-soggy-night/
Practice observations: a soggy night
Just a few items to pass along from this evening’s two-hour practice which at times saw both heavy rain and drizzle inside Gillette Stadium.
*** Randy Moss was out with a soccer ball prior to the start of practice, kicking it around, doing various footwork drills. Wideout Wes Welker, who hooked Moss on the benefits of training with the soccer ball, and Jabar Gaffney also joined in. *** Ellis Hobbs, who had been taking it slow since being removed from the PUP list, got a lot more time at right corner than he had in previous workouts, especially on the first unit defense. Fernando Bryant, meanwhile, played the left side. Bryant had previously been playing the right side, with rookie Terrence Wheatley on the left. With corners Lewis Sanders, Antwann Spann, rookie Jonathan Wilhite and Jason Webster not practicing, the team was incredibly thin at the position for the practice.
So Hobbs was one of the main men. On one play, he broke up a long pass intended for rookie Matthew Slater.
*** As it was earlier in the day, the offensive line was slightly re-configured. The first unit had tackles Nick Kaczur and Wesley Britt essentially swapping sides. Kaczur moved from left tackle back to his usual slot at right takle, while Britt moved across to left tackle. Newly acquired John Welbourn also saw time on the second unit at right tackle.
*** With Matt Gutierrez absent from practice, rookie Kevin O’Connell got a lot more reps. He continues to show a lot of poise, and the ability to make things happen with his feet. He also continues to make some mistakes. He was picked off by Brandon Meriweather, who had a pair of interceptions on the night, the other coming off Matt Cassel.
*** While wide receiver Chad Jackson has spent some time with the first offense, that wasn’t the case last night. He didn’t take any snaps when Tom Brady was the quarterback.
**** Patriot’s coach Bill Belichick put the team through quite a bit of running at the close of practice. He also had all the quarterbacks (Brady, Cassel and O’Connell) stay late, well after all of the other players had left, practicing center-to-quarterback exchanges. The trio, along with centers Dan Koppen, Dan Connolly and Ryan Wendell, were kept nearly 20 minutes after practice ended, to go over snaps. During practice, several exchanges had been botched in the slippery conditions.