Another day, another two hours of special teams and red zone work.

The offense struggled on Thursday, but it’s to be expected after all the guys that were out during OTA’s and mini camp. Plus, the installation of Bill O’Brien’s offense is going to take time, so the defense will be ahead of the offense for a bit. It wasn’t all bad for the offense though…

-Bailey Zappe and Mac Jones were the first two guys out. Both jogged up the stairs and across the field to a big ovation as Bill Belichick (wearing the 07 red hoodie that still gives me PTSD) chatted with the media. Belichick declined to comment on Dalvin Cook, said he was keeping conversations between him and Mac (or any other player) private and called Hunter Henry’s offseason “one of our best.” Henry’s been very good the first couple days and said he had a bad taste in his mouth all offseason after 2022.

-Mr. Kraft was back early and stayed throughout. Still no helicopter arrival/departure, but it’s gotta be coming soon.

-Jonas Gray was also on hand.

-Great attendance again, both for the team and the crowd. Bleachers were completely full and the amount of kids lined up for autographs was two-deep in some spots. As for the team, Matt Judon is a weird case as he was there, but didn’t really practice for the second straight day. Mike Onwenu is still on PUP, but JuJu Smith Schuster, Tyquan Thornton, Jack Jones, Trent Brown and Lawrence guy all participated in full again. Jones has been relegated to second-team snaps for now.

-After special teams work for a few minutes while the O-line and D-line hit the sleds to start the day, there was a full team conditioning workout (although, linemen were not involved and did their own thing). Pierre Strong fielded a couple kick offs.

-Around 10:20 the offense did a little bit of work from the 10-ish yard line with no D. Bill Belichick was with the offense here, as he was throughout the day.

-Bit more kickoff work a few minutes later with Marcus Jones, Isaiah Bolden, Ty Montgomery and Kyle Dugger all back there.

-The first bit of red zone team 7-on-7 was up next. The same play was ran each time for both Mac and Bailey Zappe, with the desired a result a TD on a fade to the back corner of the end zone. Mac missed JuJu on the first snap before DeVante Parker had a sick jump ball grab over Marcus Jones. Mac overthrew Hunter Henry (Marcus Jones in coverage) and also missed Montgomery with Mack Wilson right there. Zappe had his first throw broken up by Jack Jones, then Matt Sokol had a great leaping grab of his own for a TD. Rookie Kayshon Boutee grabbed the next throw for a TD, this time on a little quick out. Kevin Harris caught a TD from Zappe as well. McSorely came in, threw a horrible ball behind Montgomery on a slant and Montgomery appeared to injure himself and was slow getting up. He didn’t return.

-Chad Ryland started hitting a couple bombs around 10:30, creating a wild scene in the family tent. Picture the outfield at a home run derby but with a football screaming at them. Another slower paced, shorter 11-on-11 red zone session took place at the same time, but was more balanced with a bit of running and a few throws from both Mac and Zappe. These weren’t really “competitive throws.”

-For about five minutes, the team broke into a drill where the QB’s threw quick passes to players on both offense and defense. Those guys then turn and have to get around a defender (could be an offensive or defensive player), then have to dodge one more player coming at them in the open field. Obviously with no hitting it’s a light drill, but interesting and a bit odd nonetheless.

-During a short special teams period again, Mac was on the opposite field, closest to the media and family tents with seemingly the top receivers, Bill O’Brien and Evan Rothstein. Parker, Smith-Schuster, Kendrick Bourne and Tyquan Thornton were all with him, working on some red zone routes.

-At this same point, Bill Belichick had a chat with Marcus Jones, seemingly coaching him up on some return work.

-The best part of the day started at 11:00 when the team went into another 11-on-11 red zone period. This was basically the JuJu and Christian Gonzalez show as the two went head-to-head several times with varying results. Before the show, Mac hit Parker with a dime where Parker beat Gonzalez clean, running in front of him on a crosser. Henry caught a quick hitch and then the fun began. Gonzalez completely locked up JuJu on back-to-back plays before Smith-Schuster grabbed a quick out against the rookie to end Mac’s reps.

-Zappe hit a mini wheel route to JJ Taylor, threw an incompletion, hit Harris in the flat for a TD, completed a receiver screen to Demario Douglas that didn’t go very far and had an incompletion intended for Sokol.

-Mac came back in for another set of reps in the same 11-on-11 red zone session. Gonzalez was matched up with JuJu again, but the throw went to Pierre Strong on a quick screen. Henry made a fantastic diving catch, then a ball intended for Bourne sailed over his head. JuJu had a TD on a slant in the back of the end zone, but it wasn’t pretty from there. Both Chris Board and Anfernee Jennings would have had a coverage sack. By the way, Josh Uche, Jennings and Guy all had a great day pressure wise. Mac had to roll to his right on his final snap, threw a ball to the back of the end zone across his body that was easily picked by Dugger – his second in as many days.

-Throughout the period, Belichick was right in the huddle with the offense, appearing to listen in to Mac calling the plays. Bill O’Brien was close by, but Bill was front and center.

-Zappe came in again and got a diving catch from Sokol, but then would’ve been sacked by Guy. Strong had a TD in the back of the end zone, Rodney Randle Jr. had a PBU against Jalen Hurd and Raleigh Webb had a TD from McSorely to end it.

-A few Ryland field goals, more punt blocking drills with a soccer ball (with Belichick close by) and then the team sprints followed after a bit more walkthrough stuff on offense at half speed.

So far, it’s just nice to see a normal football practice. There were times last year where the team looked like it was going through the motions, but that hasn’t been the case these first two days. There are certainly questions and concerns still, but at the very least, it’s quiet. If you think about how much drama there has been the last two years in July and August, so far this is as smooth as you could have hoped for as a fan.