The Pats had a lighter day on Tuesday after throwing on the pads for the first time on Monday. No pads on Tuesday, but still plenty to get to so let’s just dive right in…

-Mac was the first guy out, trotting up the stairs and across the field during Bill Belichick’s presser around 9:30. And yes, BB was back in the red hoodie again. I’m getting over it but that thing still gives me nightmares from my college dorm in February of 2008…

-Scotty Washington and Trent Brown were back down on the conditioning fields again. Both Matt Judon and Rhamondre Stevenson practiced.

-Probably the smallest crowd so far, but still a decent size. Curious to see if it picks up Wednesday before the in-stadium practice on Friday night.

-Walkthrough run game work and special teams stuff followed positional drills and the team stretch to start the day. Chad Ryland kicks some field goals on the posts near the fans while the offense did some light screen work after that.

-Some more slow-paced wide receiver combo work around 10:20. On the other field, Joe Judge worked with long snappers on “snap and pop” as they would snap, break out of their stance and then catch tennis balls. Meanwhile, Adrian Klemm worked with the O-line a bit with Belichick close by Cole Strange wasn’t present.

-After that, a little kick off work with Demario Douglas, Kyle Dugger and Marcus Jones back there again. Douglas’ versatility continues to shine through both as a returner and a receiver. His quick burst in space is hard to ignore.

-First bit of competition with 7-on-7 started at about 10:30. Mac completed back-to-back throws to Mike Gesicki before Marcus Jones had a PBU against JuJu. The ball was under thrown by Mac and actually should have been picked off. Mac completed his set of reps with a dump off to Stevenson. Zappe hit Anthony Firkser on a quick out and completed two more passes to Pierre Strong and Douglas before one final quick out to Strong.

-Is there a QB competition? I didn’t believe so until today. Mac is clearly the No. 1 and I don’t think that’s going to change before now and Week 1, but there isn’t this massive gap between them. Mac will have to lose the job rather than Zappe winning it I think, but today was the first day in my opinion where it actually felt a little competition-ish. If nothing else, Zappe has at least shown that if the team does need to go to him again this year, he’s more than ready.

-Speaking of Firkser, him and Matt Sokol are in a sneaky big battle for that third tight end spot. We spoke with him about his days at Harvard after practice, so check that out on the site too.

-Kick off work at 10:30 for a few. More of the same with the guys returning. Right now I think it’s Jones as the primary guy, but Douglas is right there.

-Got some good stuff at 10:45 when 11-on-11 started. Arguably the best play of the entire camp so far came when Mac hit DeVante Parker with a bomb down the left sideline for about 40-45 yards. Parker made a fantastic leaping grab over rookie stud CB Christian Gonzalez, drawing a huge roar from the crowd and the sideline. A quick out to Firkser followed before the D-line started to take over as the banged up offensive line continues to struggle. Marte Mapu and Ja’Whaun Bentley had a would-be run stuff of Stevenson and Deatrich Wise and Mapu then would’ve had a sack. Mac scrambled and Judon chirped him saying he would have had him. Play action dump off to Kevin Harris and run stuff from Barmore capped Mac’s reps.

-Zappe’s first set of 11-on-11 went quick screen to Tre Nixon, would-be sack for Keion White (he’s going to be a problem for other O-lines), would-be sack for Josh Uche (complete to Gesicki after the fact), quick out to Johnny Lumpkin, quick pass to Douglas and a hand off to JJ Taylor.

-During this period, Ryland was down on the opposite end kicking field goals into angled goal posts. When I looked over I saw him hit two with ease. I think it’s his job, but Nick Folk is still just sort of hanging around.

-Mac was back out for a second set during the 11-on-11 team period after Trace McSorely took his few reps. Handoff to Stevenson, a one-handed PBU for Mack Wilson (vs. Parker), an incompletion deep to Kendrick Bourne (way over his head) and a throwback screen to Hunter Henry followed. Zappe came back in and went incomplete to Sokol (PBU by Myles Bryant I think but didn’t see it clearly), would-be sack for Jalen Mills, screen to Strong and another Bryant PBU (vs. Firkser). When Mac was in, Belichick stood in the defensive backfield, when Zappe was in, Belichick stood in the offensive backfield.

-A little bit of goal line work followed and Mac hit two short passes for TD’s to Stevenson, incomplete to Parker and then hit Henry for a TD (vs. Peppers). White had a would-be sack on Zappe before a nice looking Harris TD run. Two incompletions capped Zappe’s work.

-With McSorely in, Josh Bledsoe had a pretty looking pick towards the end of the period.

-Ryland got a chance to bury a few field goals at the end of practice and (I think) was 4/5. Again, I think you need to go younger there at this point and he’s shown a pretty strong leg. Can’t forget how high they drafted him too, so it feels like he has the inside track.

The Pats should be back in pads on Wednesday for what amounts to a pretty important practice as things continue to ramp up. Friday’s practice for the fans is always pretty light and the first preseason game against Houston is a week from Thursday. Should be another interesting day. Gates open to the public at 8:30 A.M. with practice set to start at 9:45.