What other handicappers are out attending training camps across the nation? Gameday Consultants provides the best analysis of any sport we cover. Here are some notes.
Since Practice 5 was a walk-through this morning, the afternoon session was the only one of the day with any significant action.
Overall, the tone of the day was more laid-back than the first two days of camp, which were dominated by hard hitting and a great deal of enthusiasm. That said, here are the highlights from Foxborough on this Saturday, Day 3 of training camp.
* Ten players were either not in pads or not in attendance at all. Wide receiver Matthew Slater, linebacker Derrick Burgess, guard Logan Mankins, o-lineman Nick Kaczur, and defensive lineman Ty Warren were not seen on the practice fields. Defensive back Bret Lockett, running back Thomas Clayton, defensive lineman Kyle Love, wide receiver Wes Welker, and defensive lineman Ron Brace were in attendance, wearing shorts and t-shirts and working with the team’s medical staff.
* On a positive note, wide receiver Darnell Jenkins was in full pads for the first time this summer. He’d been present for the previous five practices, but only took part in rehab-type activities.
* Receivers and corners faced off in a new variation on an old one-on-one drill. Instead of having a ball thrown to them, however, the idea was to battle for position within the first 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. Rookie free agent Buddy Farnham struggled to get open against Devin McCourty and Terrence Johnson on a couple of occasions, while Brandon Tate kept getting shoved wide out of bounds. Toward the end of the drill, future Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss was witnessed giving pointers to some of the younger defenders.
* When the two positions faced off in the next period, quarterback Tom Brady was throwing to the receivers and there were a few memorable moments. On one play, cornerback Leigh Bodden provided tight coverage on Moss, following him step-for-step down the left numbers. Brady’s pass was underthrown, perhaps intentionally, so Moss pivoted 180 degrees counterclockwise to haul in the ball, making it look frustratingly easy, despite Bodden’s valiant effort to bat the ball down.
* A few plays later, Brandon Tate ran a deep out-route versus McCourty. He made the catch, tip-toed to stay in bounds, then turned and ran upfield as McCourty trailed. The defense came back on the next play, when Brady went deep to rookie Taylor Price, who had gotten open on a fly route down the right numbers. But safety Brandon Meriweather closed quickly and knocked the ball away at the goal line at the last second.
* Rookie corner Terrence Johnson pulled up lame in the aforementioned drill against the receivers. His injury appeared to be in the right leg region.
* In another new drill, three groups of offensive linemen and tight ends squared off against d-linemen and outside linebackers, with a running back carrying the ball behind them. The point of the drill, clearly, was to run block and defend against the run simultaneously. No notable plays emerged, but it was a new addition to the usual camp drills, so, it was worth mentioning.
* When the defense faced a scout-team offense, Farnham made a nice catch in traffic on a curl route. After being taken down with a spinning tackle, he got up and ran back to the huddle, but before he got there, safety Patrick Chung ran up and tapped Farnham on the helmet as a congratulatory gesture. The move was notable because on Friday, the two appeared to have some heated exchanges in that same period.
* Kickoff team was the focus of special teams work on Saturday afternoon. Meriweather, Brandon McGowan, Pierre Woods, Sam Aiken, Sergio Brown, Rob Ninkovich, Eric Alexander, James Sanders, Kyle Arrington, and Leigh Bodden got the bulk of the reps on the coverage unit.
* During 7-on-7 action … Moss caught a rare case of “alligator arms.” After getting open past Darius Butler, he was in perfect position to make a catch down the right sideline, but Chung was closing fast and Moss may have heard footsteps. He pulled his arms back and the ball hit his hands but fell to the ground. Later, Julian Edelman, in triple coverage, muscled the ball from safety Brandon McGowan as the two fell to the ground.
* When Team O faced Team D, rookie Jermaine Cunningham got some reps at right OLB with Tully Banta-Cain at left. There were also numerous personnel groupings and alternating of positions by several players along the d-line in that period.
* Kicker Stephen Gostkowski has been good on all his attempts except one on each day of camp so far. His lone miss on Saturday was a push, wide right, from about the 40-yard range on the far end of the field from the media tent.
