FOXBOROUGH – When the first notes of Future’s “Life Is Good” were played while stretching, Cam Newton let out a burst of excitement, began to dance and sing along.
“Work on the weekends as usual,” the song repeats.
Newton certainly went to work on a steamy Sunday morning, turning in his best practice to date with a lion’s share of offensive reps. Here are 10 takeaways from Patriots practice:
– Cam carries the load
There are no more split reps evenly among the Patriots’ quarterbacks.
Newton easily had the most action from any of the three so far, and it looks like Bill Belichick is now getting ready for Week 1 against the Dolphins. Jarrett Stidham watched the entire sideline team period, and although Brian Hoyer watched a few series, it was nowhere near Newton’s workload.
– This is the best he has chosen
More work led to more production for Newton.
Sunday morning was the best session so far for the quarterback, an encouraging trend that continues every time he takes the practice field. Newton had just one touchdown in the team’s first 7-on-7 period, and when they went to 11-on-11, he hit his first seven passes in a row. Besides health, accuracy is the biggest concern at Newton, so Sunday was certainly encouraging.
– Chemistry with Edelman grows
The longer he stayed on the field, the more Newton saw Julian Edelman his way.
It wasn’t perfect – Newton threw himself on an open crossbar – but the two looked sharply at bubble screens, something that had been bread and butter in the Patriots offense for years.
All told, Edelman pulled in at least five passes from Newton and was repeating goals, a clear sign that they are starting to learn from each other and work to build chemistry.
– Pipe water has real difficulty
While the attack and the defense collided on one practice field, Justin Rohrwasser stabbed without resistance on the adjacent.
It was not pretty.
Calling the rookie called would have been generational, and some of his misses were in a different area code. Rohrwasser was a little better in the team period, going 2-for-4 on skinnier-than-normal posts of 40-50 yards. A third would have been fine with normal uprisings.
With Nick Folk in the fold, Rohrwasser needs to get better.
– Tons of deviation
The Patriots had a camp-high 11 players on Sunday, with five new departures. Some of the newcomers may have been through a snafu for coronavirus testing because the Patriots were one of several teams with false positives.
New Deviation: JJ Taylor, Jake Burt, James White, Michael Jackson, Jeff Thomas.
Still absent: Stephon Gilmore, Sony Michel, Lamar Miller, Beau Allen, Tashawn Bower, Adrian Phillips.
Back: N’Keal Harry, Yodny Cajuste, Derek Rivers.
– Harris continues to impress
Due to the absence of Taylor and White, there were only two running backs at practice: Damien Harris and Rex Burkhead.
Harris continues to make the most of his reps. The second year back runs well in the absence of Sony Michel, and does everything in its power to steal playing time as the season rolls on.
– Bethel catches Hoyer
The lone interception of the exercise came on a Hoyer deep ball, as it ran too long and Justin Bethel snatched the pass from the air. Acting like Newton was, he made no single choice.
– Dugger doing something
One of the most impressive players early in camp, it looks like Kyle Dugger is fighting through an injury. He was very restricted in Friday’s session, and splashed on an exercise bike during the position group boards on Sunday again.
– The speed of Hastings stands out
Wide receivers run their drills right in front of the media bleachers every day, and it’s hard not to notice the speed of Will Hastings. The undrafted free agent is a long shot to make the roster, but his foot speed is out.
– Patriots are still running rounds
There’s a debate somewhere every summer: Should NFL players run rounds as punishment? This season, the Joe Judge’s Giants are complaining about the extra run.
But at Judge’s old house, rounds are still a daily occurrence and are performed without complaint. When Devin Asiasi fumbled a ball on Sunday, everyone present knew a shot was coming and the rookie was quick to jog. In New England, there is no problem with punishment.
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