Quick Kicks: Practice 4 observations
Written by Erik Scalavino on July 30, 2010 – 7:22 pm -Two days and four practices of training camp are now in the books, with double sessions and full-pads practices setting the tone for a spirited start to the summer for the Patriots.
As was the case on Day 1, the defense appeared to have the upper hand in the morning, while the offense looked sharper in the afternoon’s work. Here are the highlights from the Friday PM practice …
* Eleven players were either not in pads or not in attendance at all. No one from the morning’s missing returned to full-pads action, but three others were added to the list: o-lineman Nick Kaczur and defensive linemen Ty Warren and rookie Kyle Love, all of whom apparently got shaken up during the morning practice..
* Outside linebacker Derrick Burgess has been placed on the Reserve/Did Not Report list.
* At one point early in the afternoon session, three of Team PFW’s favorite training camp drills were taking place at once, in three separate areas of the fields. The linemen and tight ends grappled with outside linebackers and d-linemen in one-on-one pass blocking/rushing drills; wide receivers and corners squared off on pass plays; while the running backs and inside ‘backers did battle in the pass rush drill in the red zone nearest the media tent. Thankfully with four sets of eyes (including Fred’s), we were able to keep track of all the highlights.
* Wide receiver Julian Edelman got the best of fellow second-year guy Patrick Chung on a couple of occasions. Edelman made a nifty swim move to elude Chung on a fly route down the right hash and hauled in the pass despite some apparent clawing by Chung, who was trying to recover from the shakedown. Later, Edelman separated from Chung with a good head-fake to secure a completion on an out-pattern. Chung was visibly disappointed with himself on both efforts.
* In the big-body drill, veteran tight end Alge Cumpler did yoeman’s work in keeping outside linebacker Pierre Woods away from the quarterback, while right tackle Sebastian Vollmer swallowed up Rob Ninkovich on the next play. The defense had its moments, too, as a couple of the offensive guards got pancaked by defensive tackles.
* In another WR-DB battle, Brandon Tate made the play of the day, leaping over cornerback Leigh Bodden to snare a sideline pass that appeared headed out of bounds. The play happened right in front of the spectator bleachers on the right side of the practice fields, eliciting a loud applause from the crowd.
* The action was fast and furious in the RB-LB drill. Eric Alexander made the most impressive move, and made it look way too easy, against BenJarvus Green-Ellis, swimming past the running back and tossing Green-Ellis aside as he charged untouched to the quarterback for what would have been an easy sack. Kevin Faulk led the charge for the running backs. The savvy vet didn’t fall for any of the moves his various opponents tried on him.
* After one decent effort by Dane Fletcher, Faulk pulled the rookie ILB aside and offered some advice on how to get better leverage against a blocker, demonstrating proper hand placement and technique to Fletcher, who nodded and appeared grateful for the unsolicited tip.
* Former wrestlers Stephen Neal and rookie John Wise walked out to practice together, presumably chatting about their shared experiences on the mat. Or maybe not … they were out of earshot, but we can surmise, can’t we? Wise later committed an infraction that cost him a penalty lap around the fields.
* Punt team again got the bulk of the special teams attention. Rookie punter Zoltan Mesko appears to be getting more comfortable, though he has his occasional misfire. His good-to-bad ratio, unofficially tracked by PFW, stands at 2-to-1. In the afternoon, Mesko worked on both deep punts and plus-50 kicks.
* With Kaczur out, Dan Connolly saw a lot of reps at Logan Mankins’ left guard spot.
* During 7-on-7 play, running back Laurence Maroney saw a perfect pass bounce off his chest, but rookie TE Aaron Hernandez made a nice adjustment to pivot his body backwards to haul in a pass that was slightly behind him.
* Vince Wilfork saw a couple reps at defensive end again, this time on left side.
* During Team O vs Team D period at the end of the afternoon, wide receiver Torry Holt made a great catch in traffic over the middle, but as he appeared to let up on the play, he was stripped by linebacker Jerod Mayo. The loose ball was picked up by safety Brandon Meriweather, who returned it a ways before a coach’s whistle blew the play dead.
* In that same period, quarterback Tom Brady lobbed a gorgeous touchdown strike to Randy Moss, who beat rookie Devin McCourty to the back of the end zone and tip-toed to stay in bounds for the score. A few plays later, Brady handed off to running back Fred Taylor on a goal-line play. Taylor appeared to cross the plane off right tackle, and the offensive unit threw up their hands to signal the score, but Taylor was simultaneously swarmed by defenders and one of them came up with the ball. It was at the far end of the field and difficult to see, but the offense apparently was given the benefit of the doubt.
* Most amusing scene of camp so far, from our vantage point in the media tent … a young fan waited patiently in line for autographs wearing a make-shift, homemade Julian Edelman jersey. It was simply a white t-shirt with “Edelman” scrawled along the shoulder blades and a crooked “11” underneath.
* Two-a-days resume Saturday morning, 9:30 sharp here at Gillette Stadium.
Posted in Training Camp (2010) |
July 30th, 2010 at 7:36 pm
is it just me, or does Patrick Chung seem to be getting beat a lot?
July 30th, 2010 at 9:02 pm
Thanks Eric- now go take 3-Y’s out to Lansdown St ( enjoy the weekend )
July 30th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
What a great day! Training Camp was so much fun. My friend Zach is actually the kid in the second to last bullet point. He felt left out wearing a #11 Clay Buccholz jersey so we quickly made it a make shift Edelman. Zach also helped us getting autographs for our Sebastian Vollmer and Rob Gronkowski t-shirts. Training Camp is amazing.
July 30th, 2010 at 9:32 pm
Thanks for the comments on Dane Fletcher. All of us out here in Bozeman, Montana are looking closely to see how he is doing. We all feel the Patriots are going to be happy in signing him. We know he is a real quality kid with a motor that doesn’t quit. A great work ethic and overall very tough!
July 30th, 2010 at 10:04 pm
On point as always. Thanks for the updates it the only way I survive being a New England Native transplanted to utah.
July 30th, 2010 at 10:19 pm
Remember who is calling the D? What was the problem with the D last playoff game?
Well, whoever calling the O should give his boss some repect if he does not want to collect unemployment hehehehe.
The O should be fine
July 31st, 2010 at 1:56 am
Is no one looking at the schedule? The Pats have 8 games against 7 of the top 10 teams in the NFL (as projected by ESPN’s 15 football experts). Another 3 againt Miami and Pittsburgh. 5 easy games to win, 11 tough games. 8-8 is not out of the realm of possibility, no matter what the talent level. The Jets have a similar schedule, but play Denver instead of San Diego, and Houston instead of Indy.
This could be a very tough year on the Pats. When Will BB realize that his Achilles is his secondary? He thinks that the CB position is overpaid, and refuses to pay fair market for quality. This flaw in his system has cost him 2 super bowl titles, and will make his team oblivious this year. He knows that CB’s miss more games to injury than any other position, but refuses to acknowledge the value of a top flight shut down corner, even in a no-cap year. The Pats will be at the bottom of the league (again) in TD passes allowed. It will be a surprise to see them win this division, as is should take at least 12 wins. I predict 10 for the Pats, no playoffs.
July 31st, 2010 at 2:05 am
nice work Erik. Please keep keeping us informed.
July 31st, 2010 at 10:00 am
‘Bout time, Sca-lavano. You force me to be stuck with Andy Panda for the last couple ‘o weeks? I can’t even keep up with what he writes because he talks too fast. I’m always lagging a few lines behind. It’s exhausting. And plus, whenever I read his blog-o’s, they read as if he’s growling them. lol. You know, how people imagine the person’s real voice narrating their writing.
Nice to have the “tea & crumpets” faction back to add a tad of upper crust snooty credibilitahhh to offset Hart’s steely hard as nails big noggin.
All I need are a few well placed Scalavano “wont’s” with some nourishing o’s and I’d feel ALL the way balanced out again.
Welcome back to the P.F.W. bloggo.
Now, gimme all the important deets ’bout all the really important training camp stuff like how tha pooch punts are comin’ along. That would be Scalavino-esque fer shur. (just kidding)
July 31st, 2010 at 10:10 am
It seems that Chung is having a pretty rough camp thus far. It’s great that he gets visibly frustrated but I am anxious to read about him doing something positive; so far this guy is no Louis Delmas!!
July 31st, 2010 at 10:30 am
It looks like Chung is continuously getting beat. I love the kid, and have a bunch of confidence in him since I got to watch him play at Oregon, but I’m already getting a little concerned…
July 31st, 2010 at 12:53 pm
Chung may be getting beat now because of the little transition from rover to free safety. I played football in college and did the same and it was pretty hard and frustrating, but i have confidence in him. I personally think Mayweather is more of the free safety type, but then again in bill we trust.
July 31st, 2010 at 12:55 pm
agreed in the thoughts on Chung. STOP GETTING BEAT.
July 31st, 2010 at 1:25 pm
I thought it was a reach to draft chung #1 to begin with and his play in training camp just backs up my opinion. Where is Rodney when we need him!!!!!
July 31st, 2010 at 2:44 pm
I was sooo hoping we took Delmas, but of course he goes 1 pick before the Pats.
July 31st, 2010 at 3:44 pm
@ brad I was hoping that too lol
July 31st, 2010 at 5:57 pm
It seems that with some more experience in the secondary, the team should do a lot better. I know the story about Chung getting beat, but better now than in the season. This is how you learn to get better, by watching what you did wrong and correcting it. I’d like to see a more balanced attack offensively this season. Last year it seemed that they’d be doing really good, then get too pass happy and things would go south. 75% of plays out of the shot gun were passes! That’s too obvious and too easily picked up on. They need variety from every formation like they used to do when they got their rings! Back to the D… I look forward to seeing what the new linebackers from Florida do for them. Both should be a nice addition. I hope they use more of the 3-4 this season, because that 4-3 just doesn’t give you enough options when it comes to disguising blitzes. I can’t wait for the season to get going. I look for Brady to have great season being truly 100% again. With Moss in better condition, Welker returning and Edleman, Tate, & Holt, plus the new tight ends… I see great things on the horizon!
July 31st, 2010 at 6:09 pm
Oh nooooo. Cunnigham please help!
(In the big-body drill, veteran tight end Alge Cumpler did yoeman’s work in keeping outside linebacker Pierre Woods away from the quarterback, while right tackle Sebastian Vollmer swallowed up Rob Ninkovich on the next play.)
July 31st, 2010 at 8:17 pm
Why the hell did Bill rip open the neckhole from the shirt he had on during the press conference?