Patriots: Preseason game No. 2 against Carolina shows offense has a long way to go, but defense remains impressive

August 19, 2022

FOXBOROUGH – After any real football developments were overshadowed by multiple fights during joint practices earlier in the week, the Patriots and Panthers met one last time in a preseason matchup on Friday night at Gillette Stadium. While it’s tough to get much out of the starting offense and defense playing minimal snaps, one thing is clear: there’s a long way to go for the offense, even with a 20-10…

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Tackling the tough questions of training camp: What’s more valuable, joint practices or preseason games & are camp fights good or bad?

August 19, 2022

Photo: New England Patriots If you’ve ever played football or been to a practice in August at the high school, college or pro level, you’ve seen a fight or two. Maybe even 50. It’s bound to happen given the nature of the game and the size of the people playing it. Recently, the Panthers and Patriots had multiple fights over a two-day span of joint practices. Some will say that…

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Patriots: Final edition of sights, sounds & thoughts from training camp

August 17, 2022

What a way to end training camp. Day two of joint practices with Carolina on Wednesday saw another massive brawl, more progress for the offense and continued strong showing from the defense. That and more in our final edition of sights, sounds and thoughts from camp… -Another huge crowd was on hand and I’m sure they all went home happy that they decided to come out. Weather worked out nicely…

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Patriots: Sights, sounds & thoughts from Day 13 of training camp (joint practice with Carolina edition)

August 16, 2022

The last 12 practices were interesting, but it truly felt like training camp for the first time on Tuesday morning when the Carolina Panthers joined the Patriots on the practice field for the first of two joint sessions. Chippy play, trash talking, a brawl and most importantly, some progress for the offense all unfolded in front of thousands of fans and dozens of media members, but there was a bunch…

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Patriots: After a quiet start to his career, Ja’Whaun Bentley has become a leader on defense

August 15, 2022

Photo: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images Fittingly, when Ja’Whaun Bentley began his Patriots career he was wearing No. 51. Of course, one of his coaches, Jerod Mayo, also used to wear that number when he was in the middle leading the defense. It’s a bit hard to believe, but Bentley is entering his fifth NFL season now and has become one of the leaders of that unit, just like Mayo was. After…

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Patriots: Sights, sounds & thoughts from Day 12 of training camp

August 15, 2022

With Carolina set to visit Tuesday and Wednesday for joint practices before a preseason game Friday night, the Pats weren’t in pads on Monday, but still got some things accomplished. Jumping right into the next installment of sights, sounds and thoughts… -I believe Brendan Schooler was first out today, not Terrance Mitchell. However, Coach Belichick and the assistant coaches were talking as players made their way out, so there’s a…

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