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Patriots Tweets of Note: The Final Training Camp Practice Open to Fans

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The Patriots closed out the public portions of their training camp practices on Monday, with developments on the injury front.

Now the Pats will head to West Virginia to practice with the Texans, whom they’ll play in Houston on Sunday. It’s like one big former Patriot reunion camping trip in the mountains!

It should be a fun week. I’m excited to see new Texans defensive coordinator Mike Vrabel. He should speak to the media at some point. Vrabel never disappoints with a great quote or two.

Here’s what those who were there saw at Monday’s practice.

 


That’s good news of course. Branch is vital to the heart of the defense and was arguably their defensive MVP for a large stretch early in the season.


Last time we saw Gronk on ice, post-January-2012 surgery…


Always glad to hear about the defense standing up to Brady and Garoppolo. I’d be even more excited to hear about them standing up to White, Burkhead and Lewis.


So when do we start to panic about Solder? I say if he’s not back by next week, in preparation for the third preseason game, there might be cause for concern. We saw them handle Solder carefully from the end of training camp, into the regular season. Remember Cam Fleming starting the opener in Arizona at left tackle?

Very curious where McClellin is too. Depth was already thin behind Hightower, now we’re leaning on Freeny, Van Noy and Langi on the outside? The interior of Branch and Brown is excellent, but I worry about the edges, especially against zone running teams that can exploit the lack of speed and athleticism with the current group. Harris is going to have to hold it all together without Hightower.


Well, there it is and honestly, there isn’t a better spot for them. Perfect. Hopefully they can fit six without another significant facelift.


Certainly good to see Wise back after leaving the game with a concussion. The signs are definitely pointing toward him being the starting left defensive end to start the season. Unless Kony Ealy suddenly realizes training camp started.

 

 

 

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Comments

  1. Always love your commentary Mike, but I’m fascinated to know why you’re such a nihilist on the front seven so far. I get the renovation of the DE group is concerning, I’m definitely with you, but I’m excited by some of the parts on here as well. Branch/Valentine/Guy/Brown I actually think is the best interior they’ve had in eons, and it’s the same LB core from last year + David Harris. They may be slightly worse or better than last year, but I just am not sure Chris Long was the glue that held our run defense together.

    • All fair points, and I don’t mean to come off as a “nihilist” as much as I love Big Lebowski references (WE BELIEVE IN NOTHING!), but the defense has and will always be my thing so I need to put every part of it under the microscope and be honest. I guess I’m just surprised there hasn’t been more discussion of this. Of course there is plenty of talent in the front seven and of course I’m excited to get some new blood in there to see what they can do, but when you lose 13 of your total 34 sacks, which was already an eight-year low, I think there’s reason to wonder how easy this transition is.