Preseason Game 2 - Pats vs Eagles Aug. 19, Thurs. 7:30PM


Ugh is right. He is smallish and he did get hit pretty good from his blind side on Thursday. Not sure if that hit is the reason for the brace.

EDIT: Just saw UTs post about Mac saying it was for protective reasons. Not sure I buy that as braces really compromise mobility so if you don't need one, I am not sure why you would wear one. And if he is truly wearing it for protective reasons, does that mean the knee was compromised in the past?
 
Ugh is right. He is smallish and he did get hit pretty good from his blind side on Thursday. Not sure if that hit is the reason for the brace.

EDIT: Just saw UTs post about Mac saying it was for protective reasons. Not sure I buy that as braces really compromise mobility so if you don't need one, I am not sure why you would wear one. And if he is truly wearing it for protective reasons, does that mean the knee was compromised in the past?

It's just a compression sleeve. Not a brace.
 
The jist of practice today is the Pats had some successes but by and large had their lunch money taken from them.
Not a good showing, especially our DBs vs their WRs.
 
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The jist of practice today is the Pats had some successes but by and large had their lunch money taken from them.
Not a good showing, especially our DBs vs their CBs.
Why would our DBs be going up against their CBs? Or did you just mean that their CBs outperformed our DBs generally?
 
Why would our DBs be going up against their CBs? Or did you just mean that their CBs outperformed our DBs generally?

Just changed to their WRs

The jist of practice today is the Pats had some successes but by and large had their lunch money taken from them.
Not a good showing, especially our DBs vs their WRs.
 

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.

 

Remaining observations

Over the past eight days Hunter Henry, Jonnu Smith and Matt LaCosse have gone down with injuries, and Dalton Keene was placed on injured reserve earlier in camp. The Patriots finished practice with Devin Asiasi and Troy Fumagalli as their only two tight ends.

Kristian Wilkerson’s inconsistencies continued. With two drops in team drills, he now has a team-high five in training camp. He also tripped on a one-on-one route and later ran the wrong route in a one-on-one rep. Newton and Jones were a combined 1 of 4 when targeting Wilkerson in team periods.

N’Keal Harry had a strong day after cooling off last week. He was a big-play threat in the one-on-one periods, ran a nice route for the late touchdown catch and also drew a defensive pass interference penalty. He caught all three targets in team drills, including one from Brian Hoyer on a leaping grab over the middle of the field.

Fumagalli fumbled after catching a pass from Jones in one-on-ones.

James White also fumbled after a reception in 11-on-11s but dove to recover it.

Damien Harris bent back awkwardly in traffic during the first 11-on-11 rep of practice but didn’t miss any time.

There wasn’t any tackling to the ground in this practice, so maybe take this with a slight grain of salt, but Sony Michel made a nice play to bounce off a tackle in the middle of the field and keep the play alive.

Matt Judon had himself a day. He intercepted Jalen Hurts in seven-on-sevens and had a later two-play sequence in 11-on-11s when he blew up a swing pass in the backfield before getting a sack.

Ja’Whaun Bentley had an interception and pass breakup. He’s now got three of each in training camp. When it comes to pass coverage as a linebacker, it’s not always as much about speed as it’s just knowing how to anticipate the play and get to the right spot on the field, and Bentley has been doing that this summer.

Isaiah Wynn, Trent Brown and Justin Herron were all beaten for sacks in 11-on-11s.

The Eagles were giving it to former teammate Jalen Mills throughout the practice, and they really got on him when he jumped offside in an 11-on-11 rep.

Deatrich Wise keeps making plays in team drills. He had a sack and drew an illegal hands to the face penalty.

Michael Jackson blew up a screen pass late in practice but had a rough stretch in the final two-minute drill when he was called for pass interference and beaten for a touchdown on Joe Flacco’s absolutely perfect throw to Andre Patton in the back corner of the end zone.

Kyle Van Noy batted a pass at the line of scrimmage.

The Patriots starting defense won their two-minute drill. After Hurts marched down to the shadow of the goal line, Devin McCourty raced up from the back of the end zone to give Josh Uche some pre-snap instruction. Uche then flew off the snap and chased Hurts to the right sideline before Hurts misfired for Jalen Reagor, who was well-covered by J.C. Jackson. McCourty read something correctly and made the check to put Uche in position to make a play.

Next up

The Patriots and Eagles conduct their second and final joint practice at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

 
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