Bill Belichick made it pretty clear Friday: The first five drills were all about players and coaches finding their seas. Week 2 of “training camp”? The sea will be angry, my friends.
With the opening against Miami less than three weeks out, competition and evaluation will be significantly redesigned this week. What are we looking for?
Glad you asked.
THE CAMCURVE
Through six practices, Cam Newton has been outstanding. The Patriots did exactly what they were supposed to do in the weeks leading up to camp and in Ward 1 of camp – making it clear that there was no pre-booked starter and that whoever wound up under center would have deserved it.
I think we all expected that, in early September, Newton would appear. But it did not take long for him to take control of the lion’s share of reps on the field and he would not get them if he did not do everything else as the team wanted during the hours of the day were not on the field.
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Sunday he had his best practice. From Phil Perry, who was our man in the arena on Sunday …
In 39’s snaps at Newton in the 11-on-11 periods, he started 7-for-7 before breaking a pass by rookie Myles Bryant. In all, he went 19-for-27 on his 11-on-11 passing reps. Some of his best looks came from Julian Edelman, who was on a series of rapid strikes by Newton – including one in which Newton identified high pressure and took the ball out of his hand.
Two of Newton’s first three completions in 11-on-11 work, and seven compliments in total, went to Edelman on Sunday. The two worked at one point on a side field of conversation routes.
Edelman and Newton have been in close communication throughout the camp. Chemistry bolt.
With Jarrett Stidham limited by his upper leg pain, it will be Newton and Brian Hoyer who will be front and center. Hoyer has been very supportive of himself. And that’s no surprise. He was also very solid last summer. But the dynamic things Newton can do, the ease with which he seems to grasp things and the simple fact that he – if he is healthy – is one of the league’s best quarterbacks makes it difficult to do so. competition ‘.
Can he keep the week going?
WERE’S STEPH?
Stephon Gilmore, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, has not been on the training field since last Wednesday.
According to Karen Guregian of The Boston Herald, Gilmore has filed a personal lawsuit. The Patriots have a very good depth around the corner and there are a lot of players to take the reps. And Gilmore showed his sharpness last week during the three practices in which he was involved. There is no worry about rest when he falls out of shape.
However, it is always better to have good players on the field, so his absence should not be taken lightly. Hopefully everything he has to do has been resolved and there is nothing to worry about.
It is also worth mentioning that players around the league are aware of the 2020 landscape as it relates to their contracts. Melvin Ingram of the Chargers had no guaranteed money for 2020, the final year of his four-year, $ 64M contract.
Guaranteed money not earned due to a COVID-19 related league stop would be transferred to a player’s next contract or paid out in the future if the player does not sign another contract. Ingram quietly held out, the Chargers guaranteed his salary of $ 14M and he is back at work.
Gilmore’s salary for 2020 is $ 10.5M and none of it is guaranteed. Still, his salary is $ 11.5M in 2021, the last year of his deal. If that was a place for him and his agent – and there is no indication that this is the case at this point – the Patriots currently have enough headroom to take care of that.
His case is not identical to Ingram’s in that Ingram is in the final year of his deal. But seeing his status at the moment as DPOY and the very big deals being signed by defenders in the offseason and training camp (nine corners have higher APY than Gilmore) would not be a stunner if he did not notice.
AN OMEN FAN RUNS TO COME?
Damien Harris and Rex Burkhead carry the charge when turning back through the first six practices.
Harris, the second year back from Alabama who was kept on ice for most of 2019 (two games, four runs, 12 yards), has made the most of his reps. There’s no “wow” factor to his style – he does not have the same lateral speed as Burkhead as the explosiveness of Sony Michel as Michel has room to turn – but he stacks up productive days and also stands out as a smooth pass-catcher. That is an important aspect to keep in mind.
The Patriots were painfully predictable in 2018 when it came to Michel. When he was on the field, they ran 76 percent of the time. Attempts to make Michel a more productive receiver in 2019 did not materialize (and even the prediction of an anonymous NFL executor said Michel was ready to play like Alvin Kamara in 2019). He took just 12 passes.
Harris has a chance to do more than just keep Michel’s seat as Michel recovers from surgery for the entire season.
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WE ARE IN?
Julian Edelman is Julian Edelman and he will be Julian Edelman until he is ready Julian Edelman. But someone else has to step up at wideout, so the 34-year-old does not see third-triple teams this season, as he did last year.
This should be N’Keal Harry’s time to show himself and show the leap that all players make from their first to second seasons. He trained twice last week and then missed the rest of the team’s training sessions. He was back Sunday and it was not great.
Last summer it was easy to see why the team was in love with him. He got people out of the way, made acrobatic catches and seemed physical enough to potentially replace Rob Gronkowski as a player who could get it. Have not seen this camp yet.
Mohamed Sanu also had a slow start last week and that comes in the wake of his sluggish stint last year which was blamed on a high ankle strain. He is not very dynamic.
Jakobi Meyers had a great camp and showed up last year in games for press season. Through the first six practices, not much.
The two best receivers next to Edelman were Gunner Olszewski and Damiere Byrd. The whole group needs to raise its level this week.
MUSIC OF PEOPLE?
After going 3-for-5 on field goals on Monday, rookie fifth-round Justin Rohrwasser was not seen for the rest of the week. He came back on Sunday and went 2 for 4 in 11-on-11 field goal reps and kicked on lean goals (another just missed and would have been good on the real one). He was also wild when he took reps with no defense and just long snapper Joe Cardona and keeper Jake Bailey with him.
Whether it’s an injury that keeps Rohrwasser from taking a full complement of reps as some first-team jitters, the team does not want to increase, it has not been a good start. And the Patriots will presumably sign Nick Folk this week to serve as insurance, taking the reps Rohrwasser is unable to because of some unclean injury or to replace Rohrwasser, which would be a tough deal for the child.
