We’re on to the preseason.

Yes, it’s two different things.

Training camp ended on Tuesday with a final padded practice before the first exhibition game against Houston Thursday night. While it’s still tough to gauge a ton with the offense since the line is still in disarray, it’s hard not to be encouraged with the fact that even with the backups, the offense has shown an ability to function and make some plays. After struggling early on, Mac Jones and the rest of the unit have stacked good days together and the emergence of Demario Douglas has been an important development as well. The defense has done what it’s supposed to against the makeshift line and guys like Jabrill Peppers, rookie Christian Gonzalez, Josh Uche and Deatrich Wise have stood out at times.

We probably won’t see a lot of those guys Thursday, but we may have got a bit of a hint at what the first bit of game action could look like. Let’s get to the final ‘sights and sounds’ of camp…

-What an absurd drive down to Gillette. Driving a tiny ass Nissan Versa, I assumed I was going down like the Titanic at one point with 95 totally flooded. Of course, the sun came out and things warmed up almost instantly after sitting down in the tent.

-The crowd was fantastic today given how crappy and downright dangerous the driving conditions were. Not like the first few days, but just about full and they had some extra energy compared to the last few practices.

-Once again, Bryce Baringer and Chad Ryland were out first. Jeremiah Pharms Jr., not Deatrich Wise was the first position player out. Bailey Zappe soon followed and Mac followed him about five minutes later.

-Evan Washburn from CBS and Belichick chatted for about 15 minutes during stretching and early positional work. Belichick talked to the press for the final time until after the game Thursday prior to practice, but wouldn’t divulge any plans in terms of snap counts for guys or anything like that.

-No Ty Montgomery, Mike Onwenu, Calvin Anderson, Jon Jones, Cody Davis, Bill Murray or Cole Strange. Trent Brown was in pads and participated sparingly. But, most of the day’s reps went to guys who will be playing Thursday anyways. Trey Flowers was also in the building after signing back with the team but he wasn’t practicing.

-It was both Family Day for Gillette and Patriots’ employees on top of what appeared to be a big summer camp field trip day for some places. ‘VIP” section was absolutely jammed with kids.

-Same passing groups as Sunday and Monday during indy.

-Got a little bit of 1-on-1 action briefly for the first bit of competition on Tuesday. Saw Tre Nixon beat Shaun Wade on a slant, Raleigh Webb beat Marcus Jones on a fade, JuJu hauled in a fade from Zappe against Rodney Randle Jr., Kendrick Bourne grabbed a crosser in front of Jack Jones and Demario Douglas continues to torch guys, beating Wade on a quick slant from Mac.

-Kickoff return for a bit. Kayshon Boutte, Pierre Strong and Isaiah Bolden back there. The O-line and D-line did some 1-on-1’s here with Trent Brown not participating.

-On one field we saw more Houston game prep continue, rolling over from Monday. Trace McSorely and Malik Cunningham got plenty of work and will probably handle most of the game. Zappe did get some work but I can’t imagine he’ll see more than a quarter. I quickly glanced over to the other field at this point just in time to see Bourne pull down a ball one-handed on a fairly deep pass from Mac.

-Punt return time. The usuals Mile Bryant, Marcus Jones and Demario Douglas back. Mac worked with Gesicki and Henry and Bill O’Brien and the O-line worked with Adrian Klemm on hand fighting and leverage. Douglas made arguably his first mistake of camp towards the end of the period, muffing a punt from Baringer and taking a lap.

-In a clear sign of game prep against Houston, Zappe and McSorely got the majority of the original reps in the first bit of 11-on-11, which was mostly run game stuff for Strong and Harris. Mac was side-by-side with O’Brien as he called in plays through a walkie talking.

-Mac and the “one’s” were basically performing scout team duties for the defense on Thursday, but he did get some meaningful 11-on-11 reps after the other guys got enough work in to be functional against the Texans. Mac’s drive went handoff to Stevenson, short hitch to JuJu, scramble (pressure from White). sick PBU for Jack Jones against Bourne deep, handoff to JJ Taylor, quick out to Henry, handoff to Harris, sack for Pharms Jr., handoff to Strong, quick out Bourne, sack for Dugger, handoff, handoff.

-Mac’s best work came in the red zone period that followed at about 2:15. TD in the flat to Stevenson, TD in the flat to Stevenson, Mac TD run on a scramble (narrowly escaping a swipe from Matt Judon), Lawrence Guy stuffs Stevenson, Gesicki with the catch of camp, leaping and grabbing a loft from Jones one-handed with both Jabrill Peppers and Myles Bryant in coverage. There’s no one else on the team that can make the grab he did and he’s started to show why he was signed over the last few days. My 12+ TD bet with Andy Hart from WEEI may not be so crazy after all…

-Zappe’s RZ session went Harris TD run, incomplete through the back of the end zone, Tyquan Thornton TD on a slant, Carl Davis run stuff at the goal line on Taylor.

-Mac closed things out with a two minute drill in a bit of a shorter practice. Handoff to Stevenson (X2), incomplete deep to Gesicki, flat to Stevenson, out to Stevenson, out to Henry (nice one-handed pluck on the sideline). The ball was then moved up to the 10 (they would have been at like the 35), Uche sack, clock kill. Field goal from Ryland. He took all of the kicks today and (I think) went 3/4 with the one miss going wide left.

Alright, enough of the same stuff over and over again. We need some “real” football to talk about. Thursday won’t give fans many answers to whether or not this offense can compete with the ridiculously difficult schedule that lies in front of them, but you’ll absolutely notice a difference in the overall operation of the team if you haven’t made it down to training camp. Be on the lookout for the young receivers, the punting competition, the kicking competition, the third tight end competition and Malik Cunningham’s intriguing athleticism at QB.