FOXBOROUGH – We’re back, baby.

The media got its first glimpse of the 2023 Patriots during one of two voluntary OTA practices that will be open on Wednesday afternoon. Here’s everything you need to know about what we saw…

-There were some notable absences from some of the impact guys. No Trent Brown, Matt Judon, rookie first round draft pick Christian Gonzalez, new free agent wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, Mike Onwenu, Christian Barmore, Nick Folk, Joe Cardona, Lawrence Guy, Chasen Hines and Isaiah Bolden. Rhamondre Stevenson, Marcus Jones and Scotty Washington were there, but limited.

-Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery and Devin McCourty were there. Ivan Fears was also on hand, he sat up top behind the media.

-After some position drills, the Pats went 7-on-7. Both Mac Jones and Trace McSorley were picked off early by Josh Bledsoe and Myles Bryant respectively.

-Tyquan Thornton stood out all afternoon and early he hauled in a deep post from Mac. The speed is obvious and maybe, just maybe he’ll get more opportunities with the new “norma” offense.

-Ty Montgomery looked really good all day too. He caught everything and looked quick getting in and out of cuts. Don’t forget, he was a big threat in the red zone in camp last year and just had a season taken away by injuries. Could be a sneaky big factor in this Bill O’Brien offense.

-Former QB Malik Cunningham did a bunch at wide receiver today. One of the best plays of the day came when he jumped up and reeled in a deep post from McSorley later in the day. Could this be an Edelman-like find? Time will tell.

-Joe Judge could still be heard loud and clear despite being heavily involved with special teams alongside Cam Achord. Bill Belichick wouldn’t name any titles at the moment when he spoke prior to practice.

-Twice when the team broke up into positional drills before and after 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 work, Hunter Henry and Mike Gesicki were the only two guys running routes with the quarterbacks on a separate field.

-Speaking of Gesicki, he’s clearly a smooth route runner and just a massive target. Caught everything I saw thrown his way in every portion of practice.

-Rookie Demario Douglas, JJ Taylor, Kyle Dugger and Bryant all fielded punts at some time. I’ve been saying it for three (four?) years now, JJ Taylor just feels like an unused weapon in the return game. Extremely shifty.

-Both punters Bryce Baringer and Corliss Waitman hit some BOMBS. Great hang time (see Alex Barth for this numbers) for both, but the sound coming off their foot was pretty remarkable. A loud, booming thud  with great rotation/spin every time.

-Lots of screen game action today. Thornton was prominently featured, but Cunningham, running back Pierre Strong and Kendrick Bourne all had plenty of looks in the operation as well.

-Speaking of the operation, it just looked and felt so much smoother with O’Brien running the show. Mac echoed the same after practice, saying “it just feels like everyone is on the same page,” and “it’s felt normal.”

-McSorley threw three picks on the day, including a leaping one by Jack Jones late in 11-on-11 work.

-New draftee Keion White reminds me so much of Vilma from the Saints back in the bounty-gate days. Not just because he actually looks like him, but he’s so imposing on the field. White flew off the edge a few times during the afternoon, including one time that stood out to me where he absolutely torched Andrew Stueber.

-Bailey Zappe got his fair share of time with some of the team’s top playmakers that were there and looked good. It’s still Mac’s team, but for the two hours we got to see, he’s done nothing to not at least put a little pressure on No. 10.

-Zappe did throw a pick to Jalen Mills during a late 7-on-7, but the ball was tipped.

-During that same period, Montgomery grabbed a slant as he came speeding across the middle. Seriously, he could be a very underrated re-addition this year.

-Seconds before that, Thornton easily beat Jack Jones’ press coverage on the line to grab a pass. He was truly everywhere on Wednesday and I didn’t see a single drop. He might have, but I missed it if he did.

-Zappe hit Montgomery on another slant late that was pretty. Gesicki hauled one in from Mac just before that. The short passing game is clearly already better.

-Not much running game action, but when the team did hand the ball off, Strong Jr. showed plenty of quickness and a burst when he hit saw daylight.

-Rookie kicker Chad Ryland murders the ball. He missed a couple late while kicking into slanted goal posts, but before that was drilling “normal” bombs with ease.

-After McSorley was picked off by Brad Hawkins towards the end of offensive work, special teamers went into blocking drills where they dove on blue matts and batted down soccer balls

-The teams hit the hill for conditioning at 12:57, went back into some very brief 11-on-11 work and then called it a day, breaking down as a team and then position groups.

Overall, it’s WAY too early to tell much, but it’s hard not to at least be encouraged by what we saw with the offense on Wednesday. There’s a long way to go, but the fact that it just looked and felt different is an important first step.