We won't get as info as we are used to since the media has to leave after 15 minutes, but here are a few comments:
Jeff Howe:
- Belichick says Dane Fletcher "has had a real good comeback from that injury."
- Does Belichick see positive steps from Tebow? "Oh yeah, definitely." Says they have to evaluate the entire week, not just Friday's game.
- With Pats down to 84 players, Belichick says it's not like they have six guys flying in tonight in preparation for tomorrow's practice.
- Danny Amendola is absent from practice.
- Amendola, Gronk, Cunningham, Armstead, Harrison and Brandon Jones are absent.
- McCourty is not wearing a red non-contact jersey for the first time in a full-pads practice.
- Dan Connolly is rotating with Will Svitek at RG in early team drills. Progress for Connolly.
- As media access ends, it looks like the rookies are getting ready for the slip-and-slide hazing drill.
- (Q: Any sign of an Amendola injury on Friday night?) -- Nope, there was not.
-
Danny Amendola misses first practice, Devin McCourty sheds non-contact jerseyBecause training camp is over, this was the first practice in which the media wasn't allowed to view the entirety of the session. As the media portion ended, it appeared as though the rookies were getting ready to run through the annual slip-and-slide hazing drill. That's when a veteran -- usually Tom Brady or Vince Wilfork -- soaks the field with a hose, and the rookies have to dive through the wet grass to pick up a football.
-
Bill Belichick has seen progress in Tim Tebow"Yeah, definitely," Belichick said. "I think if you look at the entire week last week that it will look different than the game did. In some cases, the game looked better for some players. In some cases, the game didn’t maybe look as good as some things during the week. We’ll just have to try to take all that into consideration."
- (Q.: Was Fells back out there?) -- Fells returned, yes.
This was almost uniformly good news. Consider.
Devin McCourty sheds red jersey.
Ras-I Dowling has returned.
Alfonzo Dennard has returned.
Therefore the secondary is back at full strength.
Dan Connolly has returned.
Marcus Cannon has returned.
Therefore the Offensive Line is back at full strength.
Dante's Cannon @ RG experiment can resume.
Freeing Connolly solves reserve C issue, too.
Daniel Fells has returned.
Gronk has not rejoined practice.
The crowd at TE remains.
Are the Pats trying to maintain PUP status as long as possible?
Jermaine Cunningham has not returned.
The crowding at DE is reduced.
Is IR or a cut in his future?
Armon Armstead has returned, apparently.
DTs now potentially at full strength.
BB can see what Armon has.
Trade with Giants, a TE for a DL, might be coming.
The Pats are being careful to maintain Gronk's PUP status. But he must be working out, lifting, riding and tread-milling pretty hard.
.
