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MiniCamp

Patriots Tweets Of Note – Minicamp Edition – #3

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So here we are at the end of spring! The time since the Draft has flown by and we’ve had the chance to take a first look at the Patriots 2021 rookie class.

Training camp is next, but first, let’s check out all of the Tweets of Note from the third and final day of media availability at minicamp.

A big moment today as Ernie Adams took part in his final training session with the team. Bill allowed Ernie to have the final five minutes or so of his press conference as he took questions from the media.

It’s bittersweet to see Ernie go, bitter because it’s now the start of a number of long-serving coaches that will be soon heading into retirement and Ernie is not replaceable. But sweet because he’s earned his rest in his later life, a veteran of almost half a century in the NFL.

Thank you Ernie.

A strong day back for Newton by all accounts, struggled the last few days with the weather and just accuracy in general, but today, he was the top QB.

The reports of Mac Jones becoming frustrated and angry with his performance during the latter part of the session intruigs me, I think it’s a good sign of the kid knowing he has to be better and holding himself to a higher standard. It’s the first time we’ve heard about that sort of emotion from Jones, I like it, shows he cares.

As expected, the same five miss out on the final day of spring practice. The focus towards camp will be on the health of Jonnu Smith and a few other players who picked up knocks during the past few weeks.

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Patriots Tweets Of Note – Minicamp Edition – #2

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Let’s check out all of the Tweets of Note from day 2 of media availability at minicamp.

Where the media team has been positioned so far this offseason, coverage of the defense has been sketchy apart from scrimmage parts of the session, and by the sounds of things, it was another strong day for the defense.

Josh Uche’s name has come up a few times this spring, here’s hoping he has a big second-year jump, he could get some great opportunities this season.

Nope. Don’t like that.

It was a relief to see Smith at practice, albeit he wasn’t involved today as normal, his appearance nods towards the hamstring issue from yesterday not being all that serious, let’s hope he’s back catching balls tomorrow.

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Patriots Tweets Of Note – Minicamp Edition – #1

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Minicamp is here! – Mandatory attendance is required or the team can fine missing players who aren’t given an excused absence.

Let’s check out all of the Tweets of Note from day 1 of media availability at minicamp.

Well, this was on the cards since last season, Gilmore is not attending minicamp as he enters the final year of his contract with the team. Gilmore will probably get paid eventually, but one thing is for sure, he’s not showing up until he does.

Cam was back today following his hand injury circus, he led the reps, followed by Jones, who for most in attendance, had his best media attended practice. Newton didn’t look great from the clips that surfaced on Twitter, clearly struggling in the elements today.

Stidham also had another positive day with a number of good throws, Hoyer had a practice to forget.

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Pats Posits: Patriots Minicamp Wrap

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I’m back in the blogging saddle after a few days on Cape Cod celebrating the life of my 90-year old grandma who passed away. Looks like there was plenty I missed from Patriots minicamp, but the good news is that there’s plenty of time to catch up.

Here are a bunch of quick-hit posits about the reports from those who were there watching the action:

— Yes, Aaron Dobson led the team in catches over the three-day period and was saying all the right things in interviews, knowing that the biggest thing for him is stay healthy. This isn’t the first time Dobson has impressed when everyone’s in shorts, so I’m not quite ready to start believing he’s going to suddenly break out in his fourth year. He did show some promise as a rookie, but since then I’ve seen little development from Dobson when everyone has pads on. The biggest problem I have is his inability to make plays with the balls in his hands. Go back and look at any of his catches the last two seasons and I’ll guarantee he falls down right after catching just about every single one. He also seems to always be double catching the ball, often with his arms. Maybe he’ll turn a corner on those things, but until I see him streaking down the field after making a clean catch, dodging would-be tacklers and picking up extra yards, I continue to view Dobson as a long-shot unless Edelman and Amendola are PUP candidates to start the season.

— Maybe the most interesting news to me was that Rob Ninkovich was playing middle linebacker, however I think this is purely a depth move, giving Ninkovich some experience in the spot should he ever be needed because let’s face it, Jonathan Freeny was a liability at MLB last year. The other interesting related aspect to this is Shea McClellin playing with the defensive ends. Since he’s new to the system I don’t think this a depth move. He needs to learn the defense first. But with Ninkovich he can play defensive end for the Pats’ system in his sleep. This does however raise a question of what the Pats “regular” four defensive back package looks like up front, especially at the MLB spot. Still haven’t totally ruled out that McClellin, Dont’a Hightower and Jamie Collins are all chess pieces in regular with no set formation for offenses to key on.

— DJ Foster tweaked a hamstring during camp, but he stood out once again as being the most explosive running back on the field. Makes you wonder how the Dion Lewis (recovering from an ACL tear), James White and Foster can all fit together, and why Belichick seems far more interested in small receiving backs than early-down pounders. Perhaps it relates to the pure size the Patriots offensive front can put on the field — if you have a true Double Y tight end offense with Gronk and Bennett, along with James Develin, the holes should be there, no matter how big the running backs are. Again, all I don’t want to see is for the Pats to be a purely passing team at the end of the season like they were last year. Injuries played a huge role in that of course, but I’m curious how it will all fit together this year.


— Malcolm Mitchell is also off to a good start, a huge plus for a rookie wide receiver even if he’s had limited snaps with Brady. The biggest thing is for him to stay healthy in these early days. So many of the rookie wide receivers that have failed to click with Brady were hit with injuries in their first training camp and/or regular season. If Mitchell can avoid the injury bug this first year, his odds of carving out a role in the offense increase.

— Michael Williams tore his ACL in camp, luckily the only major injury. I had Williams on the bubble, trending toward not making the roster so I don’t think this opens up an unexpected spot on the 53-man roster. But it should mean more reps for guys like Clay Harbor and AJ Derby.

— Kamu Grugier-Hill popped up with an interception. Anytime you’re hearing any rookie’s name it’s a positive sign, even in a teaching camp like this where the rooks haven’t really been thrown to the wolves yet. I like Grugier-Hills to slip into Tavon Wilson‘s old roster spot/special teams role. I don’t like typing “Grugier-Hill”.

— All three quarterbacks impressed and that’s a good thing to see, especially with the improvement that Jacoby Brissett already showing at this early stage.

— Thought this nugget from Andy Hart was interesting:

At the end of every practice, when the team gathers to stretch in position groups, Dante Scarnecchia has returned to his tradition of making his linemen line their helmets perfectly straight on a yard line. He checks it and players have to fix any imperfections, as Marcus Cannon had to today, before they get to their stretching.

— Finally, I must leave you with this…

Patriots Mini-Camp Day 2 Wrap

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Never fun when real work and fake work (i.e. blogging) collide because the one that pays me is going to win out every time, and that ain’t blogging. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t have one eyeball on all things Patriots mini-camp related today.

Some points of interest to pass along:

It seems like a pretty safe bet that Wes Welker will be back sooner than later in 2010, but as we saw last year, a lack of 3rd and 4th receiving threats killed the Patriots offense. So this year all eyes are on Brandon Tate and Taylor Price, two young wide receivers who could make an impact this year. One quote I found particularly interesting from Andy Hart:

My early read on the young WR competition between Taylor Price and Brandon Tate is this – Price is the more fluid route runner with softer hands. Tate probably has better speed.

Nice to know they’re not the exact same player, and I hear more than one mention of Price looking a lot like David Givens.

The two areas on the defense that will be watched closest in training camp will be at OLB and RDE. Right now it sounds like former Raider Gerard Warren is getting a look at RDE, though it’s hard to read too much into a run stopper when they’re practicing without pads.

Meanwhile it sounds like everyone is getting a chance to show what they got at OLB, but early on it seems like TBC, Gary Guyton, Jerod Mayo and Derrick Burgess are the starting foursome. This is how an old coach of mine used to handle things when there were a lot of talented younger players… the vets got the early nod, putting the onus on the young guys to unseat them. So don’t rule Spikes, Cunningham, Crable or McKenzie out of the equation just yet.

The other player I’m expecting big things out of this year is Patrick Chung. Check out what Breer had to say about him:

Patrick Chung seems to be evolving into the type of “Swiss Army Knife” defensive back he was at Oregon, lining up all over the field. At times, he’d stay on the field when the first and second groups were switching, so it’s clear the coaches are trying to throw as much at him as possible. It’ll be interesting seeing how he’s employed in the fall.

It’s hard to read too much into these practices because you the coaches are rotating players thru all the positions, throwing a lot at them, and seeing what sticks.

Today’s recaps: