Football is officially back.
Fans began filing into the stands surrounding the Gillette Stadium practice fields at 8 A.M. on Wednesday ahead of the first training camp practice of the season. Players reported to camp on Tuesday, but Wednesday was the first time the 2022 team took the field in a true football setting.
Here are sights, sounds and thoughts from the roughly hour-and-a-half session.
-The man of the hour, Mac Jones, was the first guy out before practice on Wednesday. Quite a difference from the QB1 at this time last year Cam Newton, who was often the last guy out.
-Mr. Kraft was on the field early as well, greeting players as they made their way through the AEW-like entrance way the team comes through.
-There was. BIG crowd on hand. Maybe because it was a rare non-humid day, but for those worried that interest may be sliding when it comes to this team, that was far from the case today. Fans were engaged and loud throughout the practice while the stands and hill were completely full.
-During some early wide receiver drills, newest signee DeVante Parker fired up the crowd after making a grab. More on Parker in a bit…
-No. 67, Brendan Schooler is listed as a defensive back and was working special teams, but what stood out is his length, he looks like a guy who should be trying out for an NBA roster.
-Speaking of lengthy players, old friend Sebastian Vollmer was on hand. Having never seen him in person before, I was stunned at the height & length, another guy who looks like he could play in the NBA. Vollmer was all smiles and greeted many of the media members who covered him over the years.
-During positional drills early on, instead of throwing in to the QB net with three targets, QB’s were throwing over the net, trying to hit an assistant coach standing in the back right corner of the end zone. Mac and Brian Hoyer both looked good, I didn’t get to catch much of Zappe.
-During light 7-on-7 work, Kendrick Bourne made two great grabs. One of them was a one-handed snag on a ball from Hoyer, the other was a tumbling catch along the sidelines, drawing a big cheer.
-It was about 90% red zone work during Day 1
-There’s an interesting name you may want to get to know on the coaching staff and his name is Evan Rothsetin, who is listed as an “offensive assistant” on the roster. Rothstein was a right-hand-man for Matt Patricia and was in the offensive backfield quite a bit during certain portions of practice. Think Ernie Adams on a much smaller scale for now (thanks to Alex Barth for pointing that one out).
-Parker was the star of Day 1, making several ridiculous catches and hyping up the fans a few different time. It felt like he fed off the energy and Mac may have “that guy” after all. Obviously it’s early, but Parker was all over the place.
-Nick Folk almost killed a few folks sitting in the player’s family/friends tent as well as a few media members with a few field goals. Barstool’s Jerry Thornton was unable to recreate his phenomenal catch after a Quinn Nordin kick last year, but it’s still only Day 1.
-At one point, Mac missed a throw in the back left corner of the end zone to Hunter Henry and then went and briefly spoke to Coach Belichick. Belichick was involved in a little bit of everything today, including showing receivers how he wanted a route ran in one particular drill early on.
-Jones was very good and there’s clearly more zip on his ball, even if it is only against minimal resistance right now. Mac was particularly strong when squeezing balls into tight windows in the end zone. Lil’ Jordan Humphrey was the beneficiary of one of the throws, toe-tapping along the back line of the end zone as Jones hummed a ball into a very narrow area.
-In a later 7-on-7 drill, Parker shined again, this time wrestling a TD catch away from defensive back Terrance Mitchell, who had pretty damn good coverage on the play.
-A few different times Mac had to extend plays in the small red zone area and showed an ability/willingness to step up, slide, stay patient and make the throw.
-Prior to wrapping up with a brief 11-on-11 period, a large number of players worked on a punt block drill where they would come off the edge and dive onto a blue mat while trying to swat or catch soccer balls, interesting and entertaining to watch.
-The first play of the only 11-on-11 work done Wednesday Jones extended a play and then eventually hit Ty Montgomery in the back of the end zone, drawing a big cheer.
-Jalen Mills had a nice PBU against Parker and then posed for the fans during the 11-on-11.
-In the same period, Matt Patricia appeared to be calling plays as he had a walkie talking and was also side-by-side with Jones before he stepped into the huddle.
-Brian Hoyer had a great ball in the back right corner of the end zone to Devin Asiasi during the final period, showing that classic Brian Hoyer training camp arm.
-After Joejuan Williams had a PBU against Mac, Jones ran up to him and grabbed the ball away drawing a half cheer, half laugh from the fans and media on hand.
-Nelson Agholor hauled in a good ball from Mac, going up to get it before doing the basketball “layup” celebration.
-The final play of the day was a short Damien Harris touchdown from Jones. Harris and teammates celebrated with the fans before the team headed to the hill for conditioning.
-As Mac stepped up to the podium following Matthew Judon’s availability, there was a thunderous “We Want Mac!” chant and Judon playfully joined in, razzing his QB while playfully jumping up and down and hugging Jones. It’s clear he is “the guy” now, both for his teammates and the fans.
All in all, it was a very good first day for the Patriots and their fans. The energy and enthusiasm is still there for this team and there’s reason to believe the offense is going to be better than people are giving it credit for. It’s only one day and there’s bound to be a few bad ones, but it’s hard not to be positive after the first practice.
Check back tomorrow for sighs, sounds and thoughts for Day 2 and check out nefootballjournal.com for all your Patriots training camp coverage.