Day 10 Patriots Training Camp: Mediocre Mac
FOXBORO -- For the first time all summer, the New England Patriots held practice in the afternoon.
Though we expected practice to have cooler weather, the 100-degree air immediately set the tone. The afternoon became a hot, windy slugfest filled with yet another round of offensive ineptitude.
Biggest Winner: Cornerback Marcus Jones
The rookie corner has continued to embed himself in the defensive lineup. After showing excellent stickiness in one-on-one drills, the Houston Cougars' product stayed relatively silent throughout the sevens and 11-on-11 drills -- which is a good thing for a corner.
Biggest Loser: Mac Jones
We like to tell it how it is. This means avoiding overly sensationalizing storylines -- but in today's case, it's well warranted. Today was, unequivocally, the worst day of practice for the offense all summer.
It's now getting to the point where it's almost grossly satirical; it's almost hard to believe that this string of nine horrid offensive showings isn't one giant joke.
Jones looks worse than he did as a rookie.
It's easy to point the finger at co-offensive coaches Joe Judge and Matt Patricia for their likely changes to the offensive scheme. While there may be some validity to associated growing pains for Jones, it just feels like there has to be something more going on.
Meanwhile, though the offensive line certainly isn't doing Jones any favors, Jones isn't returning any either. The second-year quarterback keeps holding onto the ball, making poor checks at the line (ie checking into a run on a stacked box against a one-high shell), and just struggling with basic defensive calls.
In multiple instances, Jones could not complete a pass against vanilla cover three zone calls.
Best Offensive Play: DeVante Parker's acrobatic snag in double coverage
Wide receiver Parker is probably the only player on offense yet to have a bad day.
In one especially impressive grab, Parker jumped up for a back shoulder throw that saw him squished between the corner and the safety. Parker absorbed the contact and came down with the ball, with his helmet flying off in the process.
Though the new Patriot seemed slightly shaken up by the play, he continued through the rest of practice.
Jake Bailey of the Day Award: Jake Bailey
The star punter continued his excellent display at camp, recording multiple breathtaking boots that drew some gasps from the crowd.
On one occasion on the side field, Bailey punted a ball over 50 yards that stopped a quarter yard away from the end zone.
