We’re on to the regular season. Well, sort of.

The Patriots will have a light practice on Friday before officially finishing the preseason with one more game against the Giants on Sunday night in New Jersey. For all intents and purposes, Thursday was the final day of training camp since Friday will be an unpadded walkthrough. After Sunday, it’ll be all eyes on Miami with the season set to start September 12th.

These past two days were the most entertaining and the most important days the Patriots had this month, here is everything that I saw, heard and thought while watching the past two days of practices with the G-Men…


WEDNESDAY

-This was by far the biggest crowd of training camp with a ton of Giants fans on hand. The hill and bleachers were packed despite the heat and there were wayyy too many Eli Manning jerseys for my liking. 2007 still haunts me.

-Tedy Bruschi and Bon Jovi were both on hand watching practice.

-In some early 7-on-7 work inside the 10 and with Cam still out of practice, Mac Jones took every important rep while constantly talking to Josh McDaniels after almost every throw.

-Jonnu Smith had a ridiculous one-handed grab in some light passing work and I still believe he’ll be the most entertaining player on the team this year.

-The Pats O-line and Giants D-line both ran a lap after getting into a mini brawl in some of the very first competitive sessions. Isaiah Wynn was on the bottom of the pile at one point, played another period then left with an injury.

-During the first bit of 11-on-11 the Pats’ O-line absolutely dominated the Giants in the running game, pushing them around with ease as Damien Harris, Sony White and Rhamondre Stevenson exploded through holes.

-The teams got in a ton of situational work both days, and during some early 2-minute work Mac – as he has been all camp – was in complete control, surgically moving the ball downfield. He hit James White on a ridiculous back shoulder throw to towards the end of the period, putting it on him before White even turned his head around.

-Harris bounced off a big hit and gained another 10-15 yards on one carry in the earlier 11-on-11 period, he’s just a beast.

-Daniel Jones was brutal for the Giants on Wednesday but it was due in large part to the Patriots defense. Kyle Dugger picked off Jones early and the consistent pass rush of Matt Judon and Josh Uche made him take off and run far more than the Giants would like, or at least I have to assume so.

-In some 7-on-7 work later on, Mac hit Gunner on a short throw, fitting it into a window around three defenders.

-The most important part of Mac’s day may have come at the two hour mark during another situational period. With 1:45 on the clock and the ball on the Patriots’ 20, Jones calmly and efficiently moved the ball downfield. At one point while rolling to his right after a defender came untouched up the middle, he hit Jakobi Meyers on a comeback on the Giants sideline early in the drive with Meyers doing a great job of keeping his feet in bounds. Belichick adamantly gave two or three first down signals and yelled to make sure the referees gave Meyers the first down.

-On the same drive, Mac hit Meyers deep down the left sideline, putting the offense inside the 10-yard line, getting a huge cheer from the enormous crowd on hand. Jones finished the drive hitting a wide open JJ Taylor for a short TD and gave a huge fist pump after. Phil Perry later reported that Belichick sought out Jones following the play before heading out to watch the defense, giving him a low-five before posting up in the secondary.

-The teams worked extensively on a lot of special teams work both days and ended Wednesday’s practice with some onside kick recovery. Former Patriots assistant now head coach of the Giants Joe Judge then had his team use the conditioning hill that the Pats use.

Overall (as you’ve all seen, heard and read by now) it truly was the Mac Jones Show on Wednesday for anyone who was in attendance.


THURSDAY

-Despite his early success, it appears Quinn Nordin’s time as a Patriot is almost over, but he was still the first guy out on Thursday morning.

-It was another huge crowd on hand, many of them Giants fans. Impressive finish to the month after some really quiet days early on in camp.

-Mac Jones and Josh McDaniels hit the field together, I can only hope McDaniels will be in Belichick’s ear for the next two weeks convincing him to go with the kid.

-Cam was one of the last two or three players to take the field, running on seconds after the horn blew to start period one. I’m no professional coach or athlete, but if I’m a coach and my quarterback just missed five days and then sauntered on with the last group I’d have my decision made right there.

-In early work against just air, both Mac and Cam were brutal, throwing balls behind receivers.

-In the first team period (7-on-7’s) Cam took the first reps and both he and Mac got three reps each inside the 10. Cam had two TD’s while Mac had one, an incompletion and then a DPI flag.

-Matt Slater would have absolutely lit up a Giants kick off returner if the teams were truly “live” as he got downfield in what felt like .2 seconds and made the “tackle” before giving a quick pose to the fans, drawing a big cheer.

-The teams had a bit of a simulated game early on with a few tweaks. The Giants offense was out first against the Pats defense and had to punt after three plays.

-Cam got the first 11-on-11 drive – his only one of the day – moving rather efficiently downfield before Harris eventually finished the drive with a short TD run.

-The fans were in midseason form, with several yelling “get rid of the god damn ball!” when Newton took an early sack

-The Giants’ second drive was the Uche show as he continued to be an absolute monster, forcing Daniel Jones to either get rid of it too quick or escape the pocket. Judon was his usual disruptive self too.

-The Giants eventually scored a TD on a nice ball from Jones to Darius Slayton down the right sideline. The refs were also extremely flag happy during both team’s drives.

-Mac’s drive was much, much different than Cam’s. Jones needed 19 plays to eventually get his team downfield and in the end zone, but it was largely due to drops and penalties.

-On the second throw of the drive Mac was picked of by old friend Logan Ryan, but it’s preseason so it wasn’t a true change of possession.

-Gunner should’ve had a touchdown down the right sideline after Mac laid a beautiful ball in from about the 35 but he dropped it at the 3-yard line.

-The highlight of the drive was the final play, as Mac lofted a ball towards the back of the end zone. It looked like it was going to sail high towards the fans, but Kendrick Bourne left up, brought it down and stunningly toe-tapped both feet in bounds drawing a huge roar. Meyers then caught a quick two-point conversion throw in the flat.

-Spotted a random Philip Lindsay Denver Broncos jersey in the crowd right around this point. I’m all for jerseys, but in 90-degree heat? And a Broncos jersey at that? Come on, man.

-Robert Kraft arrived late in his helicopter during Mac’s drive 11-on-11, 4-minute drive, fist bumped a few fans in the VIP section and then his helicopter took off again about 15 minutes later.

-Saquon Barkley had two nice catches on one of the final Giants 11-on-11 drives after missing practice on Wednesday.

-The teams again worked on some onside kick stuff before calling it a day.

-Joe Judge brought his team over to the hill again while the Pats huddled for a bit before breaking.

As training camp comes to a close, we still have quite a few questions that are unanswered. What’s the deal with Gilmore? How do you replace his production if he sits half the year? Will Mac get the job? Can Cam be relied upon? Is this pass rush really this good? Who will step up in the wide receiver group? All of these questions won’t be answered for a couple more weeks, but we hope you’ve enjoyed our camp coverage and make sure you stick with us throughout the regular season.