We got our first glimpse of the 2016 Patriots on Thursday, albeit a depleted squad that was missing a lot of heavy hitters for whatever reason. Still, there’s some fun stuff to consider as we still sit two months out from the start of training camp.
Here are some tweets that stood out:
Absent:Gronk, Edelman, Butler, Ryan, Blount, Harmon, Lewis, Ebner, Cardona, Jackson, Kline, Mason, Kearse, Vollmer, Solder, Branch, Amendola
— Mark Daniels (@MarkDanielsPJ) May 26, 2016
That’s a lot of firepower, but if you’re into panicking about guys missing from a practice in late May be my guest. Gronk, Harmon, Vollmer and Branch are probably the biggest surprises. There were no reports of offseason surgery for any of them, but at least with Gronk, there’s no need to risk any of these vets. They all know what they’re doing and at this point it’s probably better to let the new guys and rookies get more reps, especially with the first team.
Here are your quarterbacks Tom Brady, Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett pic.twitter.com/XmiUjrgcIY
— Mark Daniels (@MarkDanielsPJ) May 26, 2016
That’s my quarterback. Enjoy it folks, it’s not going to last forever and we’re getting closer and closer to the end with each passing offseason. But for now… WE STILL GOT TFB!
Team drills: Brady 12-18, Garoppolo 21-26, Brissett 9-16 with a Cyrus Jones INT
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) May 26, 2016
Never put too much weight into any of this, but generally it sounds like they all looked pretty good and it’s always nice to see a rookie cornerback pop up with an interception in one of his first practices.
That, to me, was 1 notable part of OTA. Players forgot a stretching part of agenda. Belichick was furious. Called them all back to complete.
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) May 26, 2016
End of May? Don’t matter. BB wants everyone locked in at all times and this was probably a surprising first lesson for many newbies.
Biggest takeaway today: Martellus Bennett was phenomenal. Made some big catches, including a TD while jumping to reach over Chung.
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) May 26, 2016
So, so excited to see what kind of damage Gronk and Bennett will do together this year.
Video: In order, RBs Brandon Bolden, James White, Joey Iosefa & D.J. Foster work through the bags. pic.twitter.com/MobxP44Zjh
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) May 26, 2016
Holy hoodie, how fast do DJ Foster’s legs go? That right there is some quickness.
Brady ripping one early in the session. pic.twitter.com/cCUtCAbSlC
— Phil Perry (@PhilAPerry) May 26, 2016
Poetry in motion.
