FOXBOROUGH – After calling off joint practices with the Titans this week, the Patriots were back on the lower field behind Gillette Stadium on Tuesday for the first of two sessions this week.

The Pats head to Nashville on Thursday for the final preseason game on Friday night and then it’s on to Philly. Practice was about an hour and 10 minutes and we had some interesting developments…

-Mike Gesicki was back, but in a red non-contact jersey. He looked good throughout the day, hauling in passes without much limitation it seemed.

-Pierre Strong was also back practicing in a red non-contact jersey. Didn’t see much of him in team stuff. Ty Montgomery was probably the biggest surprise as he returned and didn’t have a red jersey on. But, he did end up going to the upper fields.

-Demario Douglas was at practice but was also an “upper fields” guy. Cole Strange, Mike Onwenu and Calvin Anderson remain out.

-The Lion King’s ‘Hakuna Matata’ was blasting during the team’s initial stretch period. Can’t say I saw that one coming, but guys were singing along. Pretty funny.

-After some kick off and indy, we had the team split up into three different sections of the field running some 1-on-1’s. Saw Mac throw a dime to Gesicki in the back right corner of an end zone early and he also caught a slant in front of Rodney Randle Jr. Montgomery caught a slant. Marcus Jones picked off Trace McSorley (intended for Malik Cunningham. Hunter Henry grabbed a slant in front of Josh Bledsoe.

-At the same time, the O-line worked with each other and the backs did their own thing too.

-Got a little bit of 7-on-7 again with three “sections” of the field occupied. Also noticed RKK out on the sideline at this point of the practice for a bit. Focused mostly on Mac and not so much Zappe today. At this point, I think it’s pretty clear this is Mac’s team and will be for the foreseeable future unless it gets really ugly.

-During this 7-on-7, Myles Bryant had a nice pick of Mac on a ball intended for JuJu. Christian Gonzalez had a sick PBU on the right sideline while defending Bourne. Mac hit Matt Sokol on a slant (didn’t catch against who). Mac had two nice throws on out routes along the sideline to both Bourne and Scotty Washington. Mac also found JuJu and Gesicki for nice completions down the sideline, Jabrill Peppers was in coverage both times. Bill Belichick and Bill O’Brien stood in the offensive backfield with Mac throughout the session, chatting with him once every few throws.

-First bit of 11-on-11 came around 1:50. After a nice Stevenson run, Bourne had a sick double-catch over the middle as the ball was caught, tipped in the air and then plucked again. Completions to JuJu and Bourne followed before a screen to JuJu and an incomplete deep ball down the left sideline.

-Zeke got to show off a little bit as a pass catcher and looked good throughout the afternoon, nothing crazy. He did seem to limp a bit at one point, but eventually went back into practice. Bill Murray had a to run a lap during this period too, I believe for a false start.

-Another “team” period after kick off return. Mac went out to Stevenson, incomplete, incomplete, Marcus Jones held Parker on a deep ball that would’ve been a TD, out to Zeke, deep ball TD to JuJu.

-KOR and another team drive, Rough drive with a couple incompletions and a would-be Shaun wade sack. At one point, Judon was dancing at the line before the snap to try and distract Mac during checks, pretty damn funny. Mac did have a nice deep out throw to JuJu before the ball was moved up and Chad Ryland had three attempts at a 35/40-ish yard field goal.

-YIKES. Ryland missed all three wide left, with the last one going WAY wide left. I still think he deserves the job over Folk though. Gotta rip the bandaid off and go younger at some point.

-One minute on the clock. Mac completed passes to Hunter Henry (2) and Parker before being picked off by Bryant. Ryland got another attempt as the field goal unit raced on the field and the final seconds ticking down. The snap got off with a second left and Ryland drilled the kick, which was ultimately the more meaningful of the three given the situational work.

-During Zappe’s drill, Mac chatted with David Andrews and Trent Brown. Jalen Mills was also spotted limping around on the sideline towards the very end of practice. He’s been the top candidate as the Devin McCourty replacement, so it’ll be something to monitor. Thankfully, there’s still three weeks left before Philly.

Overall, it was about as productive of a day as the team could have had unless they were going up against another opponent. It’ll be interesting to see how reps are distributed on Wednesday. The starters should probably play at least a few series, if not a half on Friday. However, with the O-line still trying to get healthy, do you take that chance? Decisions will need to be made, but the Patriots look and feel good about themselves as Week 1 slowly approaches.