The media was back at Gillette on Tuesday afternoon for a second open OTA. There will be one more on Friday before mandatory mini-camp Monday-Wednesday.

There was some interesting stuff that went down. Here’s everything I saw from our viewing area:

-Before practice, Bill Belichick said the day would be a bit slower paced after a few practices we haven’t seen where they’ve ramped things up, including in the classroom.Belichick called Monday’s practice a “big day.” Aside from usual individual drills early and special teams stuff, it was all 11-on-11 Tuesday.

-Matt Judon, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Trent Brown, Connor McDermott, Mike Onwenu, Lawrence Guy, Kendrick Bourne, Tyquan Thornton, Nick Folk and Bryce Baringer were all missing. Adrian Phillips, Cody Davis, Chasen Hines, James Robinson and DeVante Parker were all there, but didn’t participate.

-There were quite a few former Patriots in the house, including Pat Chung, LeGarrette Blount, Aaron Dobson and Ernie Adams. Ivan Fears – who is still seemingly at everything – was also up behind the media.

-Very light run game work early on at the start of team stuff, good to see Stevenson back. Looked good.

-With Baringer out, Corliss Waltman got a lot of work early and the sound most times is thunderous. The rotation coming off his left foot is definitely a bit tricky for guys too. He was dropping some inside the 15 and when he was just kicking so guys could receive it, even those balls were hanging up there for a while.

-At one point, Bill O’Brien, the quarterbacks, Stevenson, Mike Gesicki and Hunter Henry were on one side working together on some stuff. Same thing at the other open practice that we saw as well, we all know O’Brien loves his tight ends, hopefully it’s coming back in a big way in 2023.

-Several laps were ran by defensive guys for penalties at various times. Isaiah Bolden, Dan Ekuale, Deatrich Wise, Sam Roberts and Christian Barmore. It wasn’t the last we heard from him either…

-Christian Gonzalez got plenty of reps today. As advertised athletically and he might be taller in person than we even think, although everyone’s extra tall to me. With the receiving core light, he wasn’t truly tested, but it’s clear already he’s going to be impactful.

-Speaking of the light receiver group, it was disappointing not to see Tyquan Thornton after his big day last week. Hopefully there was nothing wrong and Monday’s practice really was a big day, allowing the Pats to throttle back down a bit.

-Mac had a nice scramble during one drive of 11-on-11, but he was audibly frustrated with how the offense looked during a few plays, particularly the pace.

-It’s tough to put an exact number on it, but Zappe definitely took at least a handful more reps than Jones did during the afternoon. Again, it’s hard to put much stock into it after Belichick talked about Monday’s practice and Mac still took all the “first team” reps, but Zappe did work with Gesicki and Henry out there. It felt competition-ish to me, but that’s probably just me trying to will a real competition into existence.

-We were lucky enough that often times the offense started in its own end on our side of the field, which meant the media had a Madden-like view of what the quarterbacks were seeing. Both Jones and Zappe had some impressive throws into tight windows, particularly on slants over the middle. I do think Zappe’s ball had just a bit more on it on the throws over the middle compared to Jones’ though.

-Keion White is already my favorite new addition. Flies off the edge at times and burned Riley Reiff badly on one particular rep, would’ve blindsided a QB in a real game.

-At one point, Cole Strange and Anfernee Jennings both held onto their blocks well after the whistle and a scrum ensued. Barmore suddenly came in and threw a big hook at seemingly no one in particular, prompting David Andrews to step in and separate him from the pile. Usually, players are immediately sent to the locker room, but Strange and Barmore both remained on the sideline, but didn’t see any more action on the field. Frankly, it was nice to see that kind of fire this early in the process.

-Once that ended and the offense got back to work, Mac connected with Mr. Mini-Camp Tre Nixon, who made a great leaping grab on a deeper slant. A snap later, Jabrill Peppers had a nice PBU on Jones.

-Zappe had a phenomenal throw on an out to the sidelines that was hauled in by Anthony Firkser. McSorley took over for a few reps and Jones spent about 30 seconds or so working on his drop back and release by himself.

-Newly signed Rhode Island wide receiver Ed Lee had a nice diving catch on a ball from Zappe late as he tries to make an impression.

-Late in the session, the team split up again with Mac and the 1’s heading over to the far field. At this point, both sides went through a handful of walkthrough-speed reps before calling it a day. Nothing special, but damn, Gesicki is such a big target. It just really stands out when they haven’t had size like that in a while.

-The rookie receivers and all three QB’s stayed quite a while after practice to work together.

It’s still tough to really get a grasp on how good this offense can be with so many bodies still missing, but it unquestionably is Bill O’Brien’s show and just looks and feels like a more professional operation. The communication is clear. Joe Judge could only be heard during special teams drills. Everything is smooth, for now.