The second day of Patriots training camp got off to a great start, as the team took the field under sunny, blue skies and dry conditions with temps in the 80s. Perfect summer weather here in New England.

Just before the morning session, Bill Belichick spoke with reporters at his daily press conference, and among the first items he addressed was the Derrick Burgess situation. According to the head coach, his outside linebacker’s absence from camp has taken the coaching staff by complete surprise.

“We expected him to be here,” Belichick conceded, then attempted to put the circumstances in context.

“He’s not here. This type of situation certainly isn’t unprecedented. We’ll just deal with it going forward. I’m not exactly sure that I know all the information that I need to know, so that’s what it is for now. We’ll just take that day-by-day.”

Needless to say, Burgess wasn’t on the field for Friday morning’s workout either. We’ll continue to monitor what has become the most stunning development in these early days of camp.

Meanwhile, Tom Brady also met with the media today, following the morning session. After a few generic questions about training camp, someone finally asked about the quarterback’s contract status, which opened up a line of questioning that lasted the better part of 10 minutes. Brady appeared to handle each question with aplomb, as you’ll see later today in Paul Perillo’s story on patriots.com.

Elsewhere around Gillette this morning …

* Eight players were either not in pads or not in attendance at all. Wide receivers Darnell Jenkins and Wes Welker, defensive back Bret Lockett, running back Thomas Clayton, and defensive lineman Ron Brace were on the field in shorts and t-shirts and took part in stretching and rehab-type activities with the team’s medical staff. Wide receiver Matthew Slater, Burgess (as mentioned above), and guard Logan Mankins were not seen on the practice fields. Slater, Lockett, and Clayton all got shaken up during Thursday afternoon’s practice.

* On a positive note, wide receiver Sam Aiken, who was in a t-shirt and shorts on Thursday, suited up with the rest of the team on Friday morning.

* Nick Kaczur, who has been subbing for Mankins at left guard, began the day in full pads with the rest of the team, but the o-lineman was conspicuously absent from proceedings toward the end of the morning, during the Team Offense/Team Defense period. It’s unclear at this point when and why Kaczur wasn’t on the field.

* Brady and rookie lineman Ted Larsen ran a lap after muffing a snap in drills.

* Punt team got the bulk of the special teams attention early on. Rookie punter Zoltan Mesko appears to be correcting his consistency issues, which he struggled with a bit during the spring. In the first punt team period, Mesko uncorked five excellent, high hanging punts, while shanking two short wobblers to his left. During the second period, he again continued the two-good-to-one-bad ratio with four gems and two shanks (one pulled sharply to the right, another end-over-ender up the middle). This was Mesko’s first live-action punting of the summer and it was a very good start.

* Serving as return men for the scout punt return team were second-year receivers Julian Edelman and Brandon Tate, as well as rookie pass-catchers Taylor Price and Buddy Farnham, each of whom took turns during both periods. Safety Patrick Chung and linebacker Thomas Williams alternated as the personal protector for Mesko, calling out the signals prior to the snap.

* Speaking of Farnham and Chung, there looked to be some “friendly” (note the sarcastic quotes) competition between these two when the defense faced a scout team offense. A couple of plays in a row, Chung and Farnham got physical and jawed with one another during and after the action.

* Vince Wilfork got some looks at d-end while Gerard Warren lined up at nose. In Wilfork’s case, this is something we saw on occasion during the 2009 season.

* Brady continues to wear a protective sleeve around his left knee, a less cumbersome device than the brace he was forced to wear last summer, following his initial recovery from knee surgery.

* During the Team D vs. Team O action in the latter stages of the morning, rookie inside linebacker Dane Fletcher or Montana State made a very nice, athletic play to break up a pass. Backup QB Brian Hoyer executed a perfect play-action fake before firing a pass about 45 degrees to his left, intended for a crossing Edelman some 15 yards downfield. Fletcher, though, read the play and timed his leap just right to bat the ball to the ground midway on its course toward Edelman.

* A short time later, in red zone work, second-year defensive lineman Myron Pryor made a great effort to shoot into the backfield to snuff running back Sammy Morris five yards short of the goal line.

* The play of the day, however, was made by sophomore inside linebacker Tyrone McKenzie. On one goal line series, with the offense already having trouble punching the ball in, the call was a handoff to Laurence Maroney, who ran toward the B-gap. McKenzie read the play and shot the gap, meeting Maroney head-on and displaying textbook tackling technique (head up, shoulders square, both arms wrapped around). The collision of pads created a loud crack that echoed across the field and into the overflowing bleachers of spectators, who roared in applause as McKenzie drove Maroney back and kept him out of the end zone. McKenzie’s helmet flew off in the process and he got up from the play sufficiently pumped up as he celebrated demonstrably with his defensive teammates.

* Kicker Stephen Gostkowski is already in mid-season form, once again going 6-for-7 on his field goal attempts. His lone miss was his first attempt of the day, from 32 yards out. The rest of his three-pointers, from the 30-40-yard range on either hash, were true.

* The defense again had the upper hand against the offense in the morning practice, as appeared to be the case yesterday. After the session on Friday, the entire offense was forced to take a lap around the practice fields, presumably for having failed to score during the red zone/goal line period.

* Two-a-days continue here in Foxborough this afternoon. The PM practice is scheduled to begin promptly at 3:45. Team PFW will be here to blog about the proceedings an offer a podcast on patriots.com shortly after the second session concludes.