After a quiet week, unless you like playing Where in the World is Tom Brady, the Patriots were back in action for the media on Thursday. These brief glimpses in on the team only give us a taste of the excitement to come in less than two months at training camp.
Per the usual disclaimers, don’t get too worked up about anyone playing anywhere at this point. Sometimes it’s just a temporary look at how players fit surrounded by starters than it is necessarily them actually being considered as a starter. This is still a teaching phase.
Here are the tweets of note that keep us going through the May-Jun post-draft void.
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Belichick still has the De-Elvis’d Hot Jacket from SB51.
Still no Brady or Gronk at OTAs. Hightower was on the field and got plenty of work.
— Paul Perillo (@pfwpaul) May 31, 2018
Sometimes I’m tempted to write something else about Late Years Brady but I don’t really have anything to add to this. Hightower being back and seemingly healthy is a great sign.
Hightower participated in the full practice. Trey Flowers returned. Edelman did one offensive team period but it wasn’t full speed.
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) May 31, 2018
Edelman will be brought along slowly, creating a chance for another slot receiver to emerge, especially with Amendola MIA.
Sony Michel made a really nice one-handed sideline catch in positional drills but was called out by a coach for cutting a route short:
“For him giving me some type of coaching tip, that’s what is helping me improve moving forward.”
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) May 31, 2018
Like Edelman, I wouldn’t expect big things out of Michel right out of the gate. I think it’s Burkhead who will carry the early load, giving Michel a chance to get eased in. Depending on health (especially Burkhead’s) it’s easy to see Michel being the lead guy by the playoffs.
UDFA CB JC Jackson took a lot of reps in the secondary with Gilmore. Crossen was working on rehab field.
— Paul Perillo (@pfwpaul) May 31, 2018
Keeping an eye on a promising unsung defensive back is becoming an annual tradition.
Defense today: Rivers-Guy-Shelton-Clayborn / Hightower-Roberts-Van Noy / Gilmore-Jackson / Chung-McCourty
— Mark Daniels (@MarkDanielsPJ) May 31, 2018
This will shift a bit with Flowers and Brown back in there, still those holes are plugged pretty well with this group with Rivers being the only major unknown. The ceiling of the defense could be determined by how dominant Shelton becomes, or doesn’t become.
Damarius Travis intercepted Hoyer in 11v11s. The ball was tipped by Duke Dawson, who was covering Patterson
— Mark Daniels (@MarkDanielsPJ) May 31, 2018
I really need to see him practice in person this summer to fully get on the hype train, but Travis could be the guy to knock off Jordan Richards.
Rookie punt Corey Bojorquez has a monster leg. We saw some booming punts today.
— Mark Daniels (@MarkDanielsPJ) May 31, 2018
One of those sneaky kind of battles that comes out of nowhere, Ryan Allen looks like he’ll be pushed for a job as well.
As we’ve seen from the Saints it doesn’t hurt to have two hard running RBs who can both catch the ball.
Second day in a row that Jacob Hollister stands out. Interesting but it’s still just OTAs without Brady.
https://twitter.com/MarkDanielsPJ/status/1002226369345064962