Patriots Training Camp Tuesday August 9th

[ashley]

Practice moved up today and as always, we've got you covered!!

 

[ashley]

Great move during yesterday's practice by Thornton, who has really impressed so far during training camp.

 

[Sicilian]

When looking at training camp, from most telling/important to least, my order goes:

1) Joint practices
2) Preseason games
3) Padded regular practices
4) Non-padded practices

So the two most weighted events are still yet to happen. Still, it would be really nice to see the offense punch back a little today. I'd feel a lot better going into Thursday.

 

[ashley]

Perhaps our defense is better than we all thought.

 

[Family]

When looking at training camp, from most telling/important to least, my order goes:

1) Joint practices
2) Preseason games
3) Padded regular practices
4) Non-padded practices

So the two most weighted events are still yet to happen. Still, it would be really nice to see the offense punch back a little today. I'd feel a lot better going into Thursday.

Nothing holds more consistency over time than "how you practice is how you play."

The offense needs one "good" practice badly.

 

[Wozzy]

Perhaps our defense is better than we all thought.

The offensive line has to get to work, figure out the blocking and everything else falls into place.

Also the defense is probably a lot better than assumed.

 

[ashley]

Good notes by Zack Cox about yesterday's practice:

This was a tough practice for Bourne. He dropped two passes in 1-on-1s and showed questionable effort on Mills’ INT. The wideout appeared frustrated after that turnover, which came on the first rep after a prolonged break for Mac Jones.

Jonathan Jones nearly made a diving interception three plays later but couldn’t hold on.

— Speaking of Jonathan Jones, the veteran slot corner saw more reps on the outside than he had in any previous camp practice, with Marcus Jones and Bryant rotating inside.

— Defensive lineman LaBryan Ray is making a strong case to become the latest undrafted rookie to crack the Patriots’ Week 1 roster. He’s spent a lot of time in the backfield these last few weeks.

— Matthew Judon and Anfernee Jennings both scored resounding wins over Herron on lineman 1-on-1s.

Herron has played reasonably well at left tackle in his career but traditionally has struggled on the right side, where he was stationed Monday with Wynn out.

With Wynn not participating in team drills, Mike Onwenu saw reps at right tackle with the second O-line. That was a new development, as the Patriots had been using the big Michigan prospect exclusively at right guard.

Onwenu has been better at tackle than guard in his NFL career, though, and the Patriots seem to have some reservations about playing him at the latter this season, rotating him out for Arlington Hambright in the last several practices. As a 350-pound mauler, Onwenu seems better suited for New England’s old gap-based run scheme than the zone-blocking system they’ve rolled out this summer, as the latter typically favors more athletic blockers.

 

[ashley]

The offensive line has to get to work, figure out the blocking and everything else falls into place.

Also the defense is probably a lot better than assumed.

Yeah Wozzy, I think this week's preseason game against the Giants will be telling. My first thought was " maybe our defense is a lot better than what we thought it was".

The main conclusion I'm hearing/reading is that our O-line is struggling and when that happens, our whole offense is going to look bad.

 

[ashley]

 

[SHOWTIME15]

This is what I’ve been wondering…maybe our D is better than advertised?

 

[ashley]

Good article by Zac Cox on Shaun Wade....I have a feeling about him and think he's going to make the team. We'll see though....

This Patriots Defender Playing 'Everywhere' In Bid For Roster Spot

Versatility is one of the clearest roads to a roster spot for a New England Patriots player on the fringes of the 53.

nesn.com

 

[Kontradiction]

Likely somewhere in between. We’re either installing a brand new offensive system, or we’re making major tweaks to it that will take some time to get ironed out. Plus, the defense will always come out well ahead of the offense.

The area to watch Thursday night, as is always the case in the first preseason game, is the trenches.

 

[signbabybrady]

This is what I’ve been wondering…maybe our D is better than advertised?

I think people went way to far going on about our defense sucking. We got shredded by buff twice and that left a nasty taste in everyone's mouth and losing JC meant that we were doomed in most people's minds. But as a whole the defense was really good last year and the secondary is very deep so it could withstand the loss of JC.
I always felt with Barmore, Judon, Mills, and our safety group they have enough top talent and it's just filling in the rest without any major holes and I think we have that.

 

[Zuma]

Good notes by Zack Cox about yesterday's practice:

This was a tough practice for Bourne. He dropped two passes in 1-on-1s and showed questionable effort on Mills’ INT. The wideout appeared frustrated after that turnover, which came on the first rep after a prolonged break for Mac Jones.

Jonathan Jones nearly made a diving interception three plays later but couldn’t hold on.

— Speaking of Jonathan Jones, the veteran slot corner saw more reps on the outside than he had in any previous camp practice, with Marcus Jones and Bryant rotating inside.

— Defensive lineman LaBryan Ray is making a strong case to become the latest undrafted rookie to crack the Patriots’ Week 1 roster. He’s spent a lot of time in the backfield these last few weeks.

— Matthew Judon and Anfernee Jennings both scored resounding wins over Herron on lineman 1-on-1s.

Herron has played reasonably well at left tackle in his career but traditionally has struggled on the right side, where he was stationed Monday with Wynn out.

With Wynn not participating in team drills, Mike Onwenu saw reps at right tackle with the second O-line. That was a new development, as the Patriots had been using the big Michigan prospect exclusively at right guard.

Onwenu has been better at tackle than guard in his NFL career, though, and the Patriots seem to have some reservations about playing him at the latter this season, rotating him out for Arlington Hambright in the last several practices. As a 350-pound mauler, Onwenu seems better suited for New England’s old gap-based run scheme than the zone-blocking system they’ve rolled out this summer, as the latter typically favors more athletic blockers.

— Speaking of Jonathan Jones, the veteran slot corner saw more reps on the outside than he had in any previous camp practice, with Marcus Jones and Bryant rotating inside. I think Jonathan playing outside would be fantastic as long as he can physically handle it. That would allow M. Jones and Wade to play inside.

— Defensive lineman LaBryan Ray is making a strong case to become the latest undrafted rookie to crack the Patriots’ Week 1 roster. He’s spent a lot of time in the backfield these last few weeks. This is great news. Is he making an impact on the line or playing just well enough to crack the 53...that's the question for me. IMO the line needs some help against the run.

— Matthew Judon and Anfernee Jennings both scored resounding wins over Herron on lineman 1-on-1s. Really happy to see Jennings playing well....about time.

- Herron has played reasonably well at left tackle in his career but traditionally has struggled on the right side, where he was stationed Monday with Wynn out. In case of emergency...Herron on the left (maybe Herron is better suited for Zone) and Onwenu on the right.

- Onwenu has been better at tackle than guard in his NFL career, though, and the Patriots seem to have some reservations about playing him at the latter this season, rotating him out for Arlington Hambright in the last several practices. As a 350-pound mauler, Onwenu seems better suited for New England’s old gap-based run scheme than the zone-blocking system they’ve rolled out this summer, as the latter typically favors more athletic blockers. Yep...but maybe Onwenu is better at RT then RG in Zone. I don't know why that would happen though. Hambright is a pleasant surprise.

 

[Guts]

I think people went way to far going on about our defense sucking. We got shredded by buff twice and that left a nasty taste in everyone's mouth and losing JC meant that we were doomed in most people's minds. But as a whole the defense was really good last year and the secondary is very deep so it could withstand the loss of JC.
I always felt with Barmore, Judon, Mills, and our safety group they have enough top talent and it's just filling in the rest without any major holes and I think we have that.

I hope you're right. The defense started to falter at the end of last season, but the same thing can be said about the whole team in general. Let's hope we finish strong this time

 

[RodThePat]

When looking at training camp, from most telling/important to least, my order goes:

1) Joint practices
2) Preseason games
3) Padded regular practices
4) Non-padded practices

So the two most weighted events are still yet to happen. Still, it would be really nice to see the offense punch back a little today. I'd feel a lot better going into Thursday.

Padded practices are a whole lot more important and indicative of the overall state of the team than preseason games, especially the first one.

 

[Sicilian]

I think Jonathan playing outside would be fantastic as long as he can physically handle it. That would allow M. Jones and Wade to play inside.

I'll bet we'll see him there for specific matchups, maybe even week 1 against Miami. With both Hill and Waddle on the field, one of those guys is likely to be closer to the boundary. If Marcus is ready to play a role week 1, having formations where both him and Jon are on the field together is their best way to matchup with that much speed.

 

[archstanton543]

I hope you're right. The defense started to falter at the end of last season, but the same thing can be said about the whole team in general. Let's hope we finish strong this time

We can hope but the last quarter plus of the schedule this year is BRULTAL. Lots of travel. Lots of night games. Buffalo twice. Not to mention the 2021 AFC Champs and a couple of other trending-upward teams.

 

[Sicilian]

Padded practices are a whole lot more important and indicative of the overall state of the team than preseason games, especially the first one.

I think from a development standpoint you might be right. But from an outsider's evaluation standpoint, seeing them play another team tells me a bit more. No argument about the first preseason game though. We need to see how much the starters on both sides actually play before we can say anything really.

 

[jah]

Padded practices are a whole lot more important and indicative of the overall state of the team than preseason games, especially the first one.

I think the whole "is our offense bad or our defense good?" debate this week demonstrates the limitation of what you can learn from non-joint practices.