During positional drills, the quarterbacks were practicing tossing some deep fades. At the end of the drill, Reche Caldwell stepped in and threw a beautiful spiral that hit his target dead on about 40 yards down the field. Perhaps the Patriots have found their emergency quarterback for 2007.

The following notable players are missing their third consecutive day of mini-camp: Richard Seymour, Chad Jackson, Asante Samuel, David Thomas, Brandon Meriweather and Eric Alexander. As reported in an earlier post, James Sanders is practicing today.

The new player at practice has been confirmed as C.J. Jones, WR from Iowa.

After missing the first two days of mini-camp, safety James Sanders is participating in Thursday’s practice.

There is a new receiver at practice, wearing the No. 2. We are trying to get his name from the Patriots Media Relations Department and we’ll let you know as soon as they let us know.

There is also a decline in media members at today’s practice. After a reported 70 media members were at practice yesterday, there are currently 53 present Thursday.