Quarterback competition
Cam Newton was 13-of-21 (one drop) with an interception in competitive team drills (11-on-11s and seven-on-sevens). He was inconsistent, nearly threw three other interceptions and had a stretch midway through practice when he was too reliant upon the checkdown throws. Newton took his snaps with the starting offensive line and went against the Eagles’ starting defense. Newton now has eight interceptions in training camp.
Newton’s targets: Matt LaCosse (0 of 1),
Devin Asiasi (0 of 3, interception),
Brandon Bolden (2 of 2),
James White (2 of 2),
Isaiah Zuber (1 of 1),
Kendrick Bourne (3 of 3),
Gunner Olszewski (0 of 1),
Sony Michel (1 of 1),
Damien Harris (1 of 1),
Devin Ross (1 of 1),
Kristian Wilkerson (0 of 1, drop),
Nelson Agholor (2 of 3). Newton also had one pass batted at the line of scrimmage.
Mac Jones was 17-of-25 (two drops) and was sharp for the majority of practice. However, almost all of his snaps came with the backup offensive line against the Eagles’ backup defense.
Jones’ targets: Nelson Agholor (3 of 3),
Jakobi Meyers (2 of 4, drop), Kristian Wilkerson (1 of 3, drop), Devin Asiasi (1 of 1), Kendrick Bourne (2 of 3), Sony Michel (2 of 4), Damien Harris (2 of 2), James White (1 of 1),
N’Keal Harry (2 of 2), Gunner Olszewski (1 of 2),
Troy Fumagalli (1 of 1).
Brian Hoyer was 3-of-3 in his lone period with the backups.
After positional drills, the Patriots and Eagles held two one-on-one passing periods. Newton was 11-of-17 in that stretch, highlighted by a pair of deep connections with Harry. There was also a Bourne drop. (Note: One-on-one periods do not count in any of the passing stats in team drills.)
Jones was 16-of-20 and completed 11 consecutive passes at one point. He recovered nicely from a hard-luck stretch at the start, as Wilkerson and Bourne tripped on the first two reps and Agholor dropped a perfect deep ball on the fourth.
The Patriots then got into an 11-on-11 period, and Newton started 0-of-2. His first pass was batted down at the line, and his second got LaCosse injured.
Jones completed his only throw of the period, a deep over route to Agholor.
Then in seven-on-sevens, Newton’s first bid for Asiasi was nearly intercepted by a linebacker underneath the route. He then hit Bolden and White on left out routes. Newton then made his best play of the period, bypassing a couple open targets underneath the coverage and putting nice touch on a lofted pass over the linebackers to hit Zuber on a deep crosser. Newton next hit Bourne on a crosser and was nearly intercepted by a backside linebacker when he attempted to hit Olszewski on a crossing route. Newton was 4- of-8 with two near-picks in the period.
Jones went 5-of-6 with a drop on his turn. He hit Meyers on an intermediate crosser, Wilkerson on a slant and put a well-placed ball on a well-covered Meyers’ hands on a left out route, but he dropped it. Jones next connected with Agholor for a 50-yard touchdown up the left sideline, then made a really nice throw to Asiasi up the right seam and closed the period with a 15-yard completion to Bourne on an in-cut at the right hash.
Back to 11-on-11s, Newton checked down to Michel, got sacked by
Fletcher Cox, checked down to White and hit Bolden on a screen. Not a good period for the offense.
Jones and Agholor opened with a perfect over-the-shoulder connection on a go route up the left sideline for about 30 yards. Jones then went play-action to the right side before hitting Bourne on a left crosser for a nifty catch and run, and he closed the period with a completion to Meyers on a right slant.
Newton took over and checked down to Harris, hit Ross on a right out route and would have been sacked on the third throw, which was ultimately pass interference on the cornerback in coverage against Harry. Newton was 5-of-5 over this two-period stretch, but it included three check-downs, a screen pass and two sacks.
Jones then hit Michel on a right out route and Harris on a choice route. At that point in practice, Jones was 11-of-12 in team drills, and the incompletion was a drop, so he was on target with every throw. But his final throw of that period was long and incomplete after Bourne appeared to run the wrong route.
Another 11-on-11 period, Newton hit Wilkerson on a left in-cut, but Wilkerson dropped it. He was then sacked and probably would have been sacked again a play later, but he attempted a deep ball for Agholor, who was incidentally tripped by the cornerback in coverage. Newton next hit Bourne on the left side, but he held the ball too long in the pocket and also would have been sacked for the fourth time in five drop-backs over two periods. (As a refresher, in reference to a play when a quarterback “would have been sacked,” the rusher got to the quarterback but wasn’t allowed to hit him and backed off the play to let the quarterback deliver a pass.)
Jones then hit Harris on a left out route before a rocky sequence. His deep attempt for Wilkerson on a post was too far, and Wilkerson did a nice job to prevent the safety over the top from making an interception. Then with pressure off
Trent Brown’s side, Jones’ bid for Meyers on an over route was rushed and a bit too far. Jones recovered by hitting White over the middle and Harry in a left in-cut against a zone coverage. Nice play all around — the route, the throw and the catch.
The final period was a two-minute drill. Newton was sharp to start, hitting Bourne on a crosser by the right hash, Agholor on a left post and Agholor again on a leaping catch in traffic to get the ball to the 10-yard line. However, Newton’s final two throws were ugly, and they were nearly identical. Asiasi ran a post each time to the back of the end zone, and both of Newton’s throws were well short and into coverage. The first was broken up by a pair of linebackers, and the second was easily intercepted by linebacker
Eric Wilson.
Newton explained after practice there were seven seconds remaining on the clock on third down in a fourth-quarter situation when they were trailing by 4 points, so he had to aim for the end zone. Still, with coverage underneath Asiasi’s route, the ball needed to be much higher to give him a chance to make a leaping catch.
Jones had a rollercoaster of a final period in his two-minute drill. He opened with a great read and throw to hit an open Wilkerson for about 25 yards on a post route, but Wilkerson had an awful drop. Jones’ next ball for Olszewski was odd, as it was unclear if the deep shot was a simple misfire that went too far or if Olszewski turned the wrong way with his route and lost the speed to get under the ball. Jones went right back to Olszewski for a crosser over the middle. He then threw behind Michel over the middle, scrambled left a play later and found Michel in traffic by the left sideline and hit an open Fumagalli on a checkdown by the right sideline. Jones might have shanked his next throw to Michel, as it was much too far for the back in the middle of the field. Jones got away with it, though. And finally, he hit Harry on a beautiful fade for a 20-yard touchdown up the left side. It was a rocky period, but Jones and the offense accomplished the goal of scoring a touchdown.
Newton struggled against the Eagles’ starters while Jones thrived against the backups. But the question is this: Does it matter as it relates to the push for the starting job? If Jones doesn’t get an increase in reps Tuesday against the Eagles’ starters, it would be a fairly strong indication Newton will be the Week 1 starter.
After practice, Newton said Bill Belichick hasn’t yet informed him if he’ll in fact be the Week 1 starter.
But if Jones doesn’t make a dent in Newton’s reps after a day like this, the writing will most certainly be on the wall. Stay tuned.