Following two straight days in pads, the players wore shells for practice today, a sign of workload management as we hit mid-week.
I present today’s Tweets of Note along with my thoughts:
The good bit of news regarding attendance was that a limited Julian Edelman yesterday was able to fully participate today. The bad news is that the absent list has grown by two.
Once again, LB Anfernee Jennings, WR Jeff Thomas, DL Beau Allen, and DL Tashawn Bower missed practice. The new additions, second-year WR N’Keal Harry and DE Derek Rivers. Harry, who spent much of last season injured is the main concern. Without knowing anything about the absence I won’t speculate, but let’s hope he’s back on the field ASAP.
C David Andrews was also limited today as RB’s Michel and Miller remain on the PUP/active list.
Olszewski has been showing a jump from his performance in last year’s camp, especially when he makes a play on the reigning league DPOTY.
The issue I’ve been reading about Gunner is his consistency, he’s been hot and cold again today, but, the fact that he can get open and make plays is a huge trait to go on his resume. Let’s not forget, it’s only his second year playing as a WR.
Another I’ll be tracking closely.
In Harry’s absence, another WR making a name for himself today was the speedy Damiere Byrd who latched on to a pass from Stidham to make “a heck of a diving catch”.
Mainly positive coming out of the group so far, I had Byrd making my pre-camp roster projection, these sorts of plays will help him prove me right.
A rough day some stated for the QB’s, from the stats Hoyer had the best day, Stidham won it for Doug Kyed based on his throws during the session.
It’s just the beginning of a speculation filled competition for the Patriots and their QB room. Three days into the “real” football practices, nobody has stood out as a clear winner for the starting job.
A nice one to finish with, defense looking very strong again. A bunch of DB’s getting involved with interceptions and PBU’s. The stand out by far was rookie Kyle Dugger.
He’s had multiple days this week where he’s made plays on the ball and looked veteran-like in the way he’s settled into the early camp schedule. It’s easy to forget he came from a Div 2 college, looking a strong candidate for playing time this year alongside his special team’s capabilities.