If the buzz was at about a 6 on a 1-10 scale for the first day of training camp earlier this week, Saturday was absolutely a 10.

About 45 minutes before practice was set to begin at 10:15, the stands behind Gillette Stadium were full. By the time stretching began and then indy drills followed, the hill was full and the all three ramps for overflow crowd were open with people watching from high above.

Even the family and friends tent was absolutely packed.

Now, weather and the fact it was a Saturday obviously have a ton to do with that, but the product on the field – even without pads yet – was more than worth your time if you made the trip down to Foxborough.

There were big plays, plenty of reasons to cheer, some ugliness at times – to be expected four days into camp – but most importantly, there’s legitimate optimism to be found with how things looked at times.

Here’s a rundown of everything that we saw on what was a beautiful day for some football…

-NFL Network’s Rhett Lewis was in the house as part of the network’s “Back Together Again” initiative with live broadcasts from all 32 camp sites.

-I’m 98% sure there were a few UMass guys in the friends/family tent, but I’m not positive. Definitely saw some Minuteman gear.

-DT Isaiah Iton was the first guy out about 9:45, followed shortly thereafter by Robert Spillane and Jack Gibbens.

-After plenty of indy time and stretching/walkthrough, the first bit of 7-on-7 got started about 11:05. Drake Maye targeted Stefon Diggs three times three times on four snaps, completing a hitch, missing him on a crosser (thrown out in front) and then Christian Gonzalez made a nice break up on the sideline. Maye also missed Antonio Gibson on a deep ball.

-The Pats aired it out a lot more than they have the previous few days, with the emphasis on Tuesday being the short ‘gotta have it’ stuff before the walkthrough on Wednesday.

-Pop continues to have a great camp and had his first of a couple big plays when he went up and got a ball from Josh Dobbs, finding a soft spot in the zone and settling in before making the grab.

-Maye’s next series was quite the opposite of the first. He hit both Kayshon Boutte and Kendrick Bourne on short hitches before Javon Baker torched Jaylinn Hawkins and reeled in a deep drop-in-the-bucket touchdown.

-After the 7-on-7’s it was a very lengthy team period.

-Spillane had back-to-back PBUs on throws over the middle to Hunter Henry after a handoff to Rhamondre Stevenson. Maye finally connected with Henry on the sideline against Marcus Jones before a deep-out incompletion to Jack Westover. Spillane just continues to be a steady presence and there’s no doubt in my mind he becomes a fan favorite quickly.

-Didn’t see much of Dobbs’ series here, but didn’t notice Truman Jones getting some run with the twos. I still believe both he and Jack Conley have a chance to make the team, although Conley didn’t get as much run as I would have liked to have seen on Saturday.

-Next series for Maye: check down to Stevenson (love to see it), would-be sack for Keion White, dart to Pop on a crosser.

-Maye’s next series: The play of training camp so far. Maye rolled out to his right after getting flushed out and then with a flick of the wrist fired a 50+ yard TD down to Pop, who had gotten behind both Gonzalez and Kyle Dugger, Pop ran through the back of the end zone and high fives a bunch of fans lined up along the back line as the crowd roared. A run stuff, incomplete pass and a short completion to Pop followed, but nothing else in those two minutes mattered.

-During a series with Dobbs – and really throughout the day – TreyVeon Henderson’s speed was on full display when he was a pass catcher. Whether it was his burst in the screen game or constantly getting open on routes along the sideline down the field. If he continues to develop it could be a serious weapon for Josh McDaniels and the offense.

-Next Maye series still in the same team period: Completion over the middle to Boutte, again finding a spot in the zone, batted ball by Harold Landry at the LOS (he was all fired up), pressure up the middle from Christian Elliss forces a rushed an incomplete screen, missed throw on a wheel to Henderson, handoff to Gibson for little gain.

-Indy/kick off period followed by field goals for Andy Borregales (3/4) and Parker Romo (4/4).

-One more team period starting around 11:50…Maye hits Diggs on a screen, run outside for Henderson, Diggs one-hands a ball going over the middle. It sort of looked like he bobbled it/used his leg to cradle it in, tough to tell exactly from my vantage point. Gibson finished the series off with a run again.

-During a series for Dobbs Jabrill Peppers had a tip-drill INT over the middle on what looked like a ball intended for Gibson. But, he bounced back on the next play with a beautiful deep ball on one of those balls down the left sideline to Henderson who was open by at least five yards.

-Maye’s final series was a quiet one with one completion, an incompletion and a hand off to Stevenson.

-Team lined up for sprints right around noon, officially closing out the first week of practice.

Of course, now everything gets real on Monday when the pads come on for the first time. The O-line is still a question and while rushers had some success at times on Saturday, I thought QBs had the opportunity to slide up in the pocket more times than not and did so, particularly Maye. As far as the receivers, it’s still Diggs, Douglas and then everybody else, but Boutte continues to be reliable and consistent.

Defensively, it’ll be interesting to see how this secondary plays against this receiver group once they can actually get physical with them, same goes for the D-line.

Monday will be our first true taste of what this team could be, but through OTAs and four days of camp, there’s far more reason to be optimistic than pessimistic about the 2025 Patriots.