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FOXBOROUGH — The New England Patriots hit the practice field again on Monday, their first practice since their preseason-opening loss to the New York Giants.
Monday's practice was actually sandwiched between last Thursday's game and a pair of joint practices with the Carolina Panthers on Tuesday and Thursday. Here are seven observations from Monday's practice.
New England Patriots Practice Observations
It was a lighter practice
New England hasn't done any tackling in practice so far in training camp. Not only did Monday continue that, the Patriots ran more of a walkthrough practice.
The majority of Monday's practice was 11-on-11 sessions with some intensity involved, but was mostly run at half-speed. There was a focus on playing through certain types of situations for both sides with a couple of breaks for special teams work in between.
Monday should be the last lighter practice for the Patriots for a bit. Joint practices are typically more intense, and now is probably the best point to ramp things up with the regular season getting closer.
Tyquan Thornton featured throughout much of the day
After grabbing a touchdown in his first preseason game, Thornton got a lot of shine in Monday's practice.
The second-round rookie got work with both the first and second offensive units on Monday. Thornton had a handful of targets, making a few catches. He noticeably had a play designed for him, with the Patriots running a pick-play and Mac Jones throwing to him near the goal line.
Thornton also ran a fair amount of deep routes, but those plays didn't have much success. Thornton was able to create a little separation down the field following a play-action. However, Bailey Zappe's pass was errant and didn't reach Thornton. During the hurry-up drill at the end of practice, Thornton got open along the sideline against corner Shaun Wade. Brian Hoyer's pass led Thornton just a couple yards too far, though, as the rookie ended up catching the ball out of bounds.
Touchdown, Tyquan Thornton! The rookie WR from Baylor gets the @Patriots on the board.@Humble_Ty19 | #ForeverNE
📺: #NYGvsNE on @NFLNetwork
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/E0QNI4OSYN pic.twitter.com/UaiM7qQcxE— NFL (@NFL) August 11, 2022
Thornton did make one of the plays of the day when Zappe found him in the front left corner of the end zone. He made an over-the-shoulder grab over fellow rookie Jack Jones for a touchdown and celebrated with a hard spike.
Change on the ground?
The Patriots didn't run the ball much on Monday, rushing the ball just 20 times of the several dozen plays ran. Of those 20 design rushes, only two were outside runs — with one of them being a jet sweep for tight end Jonnu Smith.
Through the first two-plus weeks of camp, the Patriots struggled a lot while trying outside rushes. They also struggled on the ground against the Giants, rushing for only 52 yards on 18 carries (2.9 per carry).
While there was no tackling on Monday, the Patriots saw some success in rushing up the middle. Damien Harris had a good cut on one of his few rushes and Rhamondre Stevenson was quick through the hole, too. Ty Montgomery, J.J. Taylor, Pierre Strong, and Kevin Harris also had carries, but didn't have much success.
How Mac Jones played
As he has through much of camp, Mac Jones played it safe on his throws on Monday. He threw a few more intermediate passes than usual, but didn't really take any shots down the field.
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Jones completed 16-of-18 passes in the first few 11-on-11 sessions on Monday. He ran a little play-action, but many of those passes ended up in short completions to running backs (Harris) or tight ends (Smith). He hit Hunter Henry on a tight seam pass over the middle. He also completed a quick strike to DeVate Parker on a slant, which corner Myles Bryant nearly jumped in front of.
In the hurry-up 11-on-11 session, Jones had some trouble. He went 5-for-10, missing a receiver on a deep pass on one throw, throwing the ball away on another, and a miscommunication with Nelson Agholor caused a third incompletion. Jones found Agholor in the end zone with the veteran receiver making a one-handed grab on a jump ball, but his final pass of the day was an interception on a pass that was tipped over the middle.
Matt Patricia on Mac Jones this summer, including some talk about the QBs comfort level here in camp. #Patriots pic.twitter.com/aTfdEKzu20
— Mike Giardi (@MikeGiardi) August 15, 2022
Of the five completions in hurry-ups, four were in the flat. Jakobi Meyers had two of those grabs, while Smith and Hunter Henry had the others.
Bill Belichick upset
The Patriots' top man dropped a few curse words throughout Monday's practice, but not directed at the players. Belichick got angry with the chain gang a couple of times, causing him to raise his voice a bit at them. The Patriots were practicing certain situations throughout Monday's practice, and the chain gain not being on the same page as him was the likely root of the frustration.
Two Patriots in their second season in New England have a busy day, while another is mostly quiet
Agholor and Smith were two of the top targets on Monday.
Agholor had five receptions on six targets during the day. He had a nice catch on a comeback route in which he had to stretch out a bit in order to make the grab. In addition to his one-handed touchdown grab, he made another in which he was able to get past corner Jonathan Jones in the back of the end zone.
Smith caught several passes in the flat on Monday. He was also a common target for Jones on play-action passes, catching a few bubble screens before running up field. It's clear the Patriots want to find a way to get Smith the ball so he can make plays in the open field, something he has been strong at for much of his career.
Kendrick Bourne had another quiet practice on Monday. The veteran only had one target: a pass from Jones over the middle that top corner Jalen Mills defended well to force an incompletion.
Taking note of who was and wasn't at practice
Safety Jabrill Peppers was a full participant at Monday's practice after being limited during last week's practices. He got run with both the first and second unit defenses.
Starting right tackle Isaiah Wynn missed his third straight practice on Monday. Corners Joejuan Williams and Malcolm Butler were also absent. Williams made a trip to the blue injury tent during Thursday's preseason opener. He also struggled in that game, allowing a few big catches throughout the game. Butler played on Thursday but didn't appear to get injured.
