Patriots Training Camp Day 5 Highlights: Who Popped In Pads?
FOXBORO -- If the beginning of training camp is Christmas morning, then the first day with pads is New Year's Day. Happy New Year, New England Patriots fans.
Coming into today, the main storyline involved, well, the lines. This practice marked the first time since last season that the offensive and defensive lines were able to play at full intensity. This meant that the offense could finally use both run and pass plays.
Day 5 offered the first time that fans could see true one-on-one drills for both the linemen and the receivers/secondary.
Biggest Winner: DeVante Parker and Josh Uche
Wide receiver Parker caught two deep balls from quarterback Mac Jones, both over cornerback Malcolm Butler. He continues to be perhaps the best player in camp altogether.
Uche, a third-year defensive end/linebacker also stood out during practice. While he took snaps primarily with the scout-team defense, he did show the ability to stay stride for stride with running back Rhamondre Stevenson on a screen pass, blowing up the play in open space.
Biggest Loser: Mac Jones
Starting quarterback Jones had some sharp passes and then some not-so-sharp passes; the not-so-sharp one's were incredibly poor, though. He had one interception on a poor read against zone coverage, and had two more dropped picks due to ill-advised throw timing. Jones appeared visibly frustrated throughout practice.
Best Offensive Play: Tyquan Thornton's diving grab against Joejuan Williams
Though receiver Thornton is obviously a speedster, his wiry frame has called his physicality into question. On a one-on-one rep against defensive back Williams, Thornton was jammed hard off the line. He recovered and managed to make a spectacular contested catch off a tight window throw down the sideline by Jones, diving in the process. The throw drew the most applause from the crowd of any play today.
Best Defensive Play: Daniel Ekuale's backfield penetration
Defensive lineman Ekaule saw a decent number of snaps with the Patriots in 2021. As a run stopper, he had a few instances of killing offensive momentum with his penetration ability, especially against zone runs. With New England running a lot of outside zone in practice today, Ekuale made his presence known on a few.
In one especially impressive rep, Ekaule blew up an outside zone run a good three yards behind the line of scrimmage; though the rep came against the second-team offense, it was still an impressive showing in a day marked more by offensive errors than true defensive excellence.
