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FOXBOROUGH – The New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers had another fight-filled practice on Wednesday, which saw a few players get ejected for the second straight day.
As for what happened outside of that, here are five Patriots observations from Wednesday's practice.
5 Patriots observations from training camp with Panthers
Nelson Agholor gets consistent top unit reps and impresses
The Patriots' veteran wideout was Mac Jones' top target on Wednesday. Agholor caught all four passes that Jones threw to him during the 11-on-11 drills, with a couple of impressive pitch-and-catches involved, too.
In one of those passes, Agholor made a catch in the back left corner of the end zone on a pass from 20-plus yards out, carefully placing his feet down on a well-placed ball from Jones. In the scrimmage portion, Jones found Agholor in the back right corner while the team operated a few yards from the goal line. An outstretched Agholor caught the ball with three Panthers defensive backs around him, drawing a nice reaction from everyone involved.
Agholor, along with DeVante Parker and Jakobi Meyers, practically got all the receiving reps on the top offensive unit on Wednesday. Kendrick Bourne, who was tossed from Tuesday's practice and has had a quiet camp up to this point, was mostly with the second unit.
Jalen Mills has another impressive day
Panthers wideout D.J. Moore is considered to be one of the better outside wideouts in the league. Patriots corner Jalen Mills didn't make Moore look like that much of the joint practices.
Mills blanketed Moore for much of the time he covered him on Wednesday. He recorded an interception on a Sam Darnold throw in his direction and was in coverage for a couple of incomplete passes to Moore. Mills had three pass break-ups when covering Moore on Tuesday.
Jonathan Jones, the Patriots' other outside corner on the top unit, didn't fare as well. Moore made a leaping grab over him during 7-on-7s and again during 11-on-11s in the end zone. Jones held up against other receivers, but it's clear he isn't as strong against No. 1's.
Third-round rookie Marcus Jones batted a Darnold pass up to himself for an interception, an impressive play along the sideline. He also gave up a few receptions in coverage. He certainly has the speed to matchup in the slot, where he'll likely start on Friday, but has had some issues with bigger receivers so far.
Mac Jones to Tyquan Thornton. #Patriots pic.twitter.com/t0buubzfER
— Jim McBride (@globejimmcbride) August 17, 2022
Mac Jones continues to take chances
Through much of the early portion of camp, Jones didn't really throw too much down the field. He often played it safe, which could've been a symptom of the offensive line's struggles.
Jones ended up going 16-of-24 in 11-on-11s and 7-on-7s in Wednesday's practice. He hit on the aforementioned throws to Agholor – a pair of riskier throws considering the coverage and placement.
Jones also found success in throwing over the middle of the field for the Patriots. Tyquan Thornton had a catch in the back of the end zone that was well placed during 7-on-7s. Tight end Jonnu Smith had a grab over the middle to start 11-on-11s from Jones that got him into a groove for much of the day.
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Jones still mixed in some dump-offs, though. He completed a couple of short passes to Ty Montgomery and Rhamondre Stevenson to help move the ball down the field.
Jones also had a better hurry-up drill on Wednesday. He got the ball down the field and found Parker a few yards in the endzone for an easy touchdown.
Jonnu Smith good in 1-on-1s, quiet for much of the day though
Hunter Henry was absent from Patriots practice on Wednesday after departing Tuesday's practice early. That meant a lot of playing time Smith.
During the 1-0n-1 session to begin the day, Smith caught most of his targets. He made a nice move on Panthers safety Jeremy Chinn to create separation for a score. He also caught a pass from Jones in the back corner of the end zone during the session.
Smith didn't have much success though during team drills. He only had one reception by my count. Backup tight end Devin Asiasi didn't make much noise in replacing Henry, either.
Patriots' defensive line not as active as it was on Tuesday
Patriots defensive end Deatrich Wise believed his unit “dominated” the Panthers on Tuesday. He wouldn't be wrong in that assessment as they had a few would-be sacks, several sacks, and even more pressures.
That wasn't the case on Wednesday.
Rookie undrafted free-agent defensive tackle LaBryan Ray appeared to have the only would-be sack for the Patriots. They also didn't generate much pressure, either. Two of their pressures came on play-action bootlegs near the goal line.
The Patriots only had a pair of stuffs, too. That also might have been because the Panthers only ran the ball a handful of times during team drills.
We might get a better idea of how well the front-seven is on Friday, when the Patriots host the Panthers for a real preseason game.
