Patriots And Eagles Practice Day One.

The Patriots had a joint practice with the Eagles in Philadelphia on Monday. There were questions as to how the Patriots would look against another team in practice. Reports from the day were the Patriots lost on all three phases to the Eagles. As far as the quarterbacks go, they still faced a decent defense and dealt with drops. With Andrew Callahan reporting Newton had "six" and Jones had "ten." There was no word on Nordin, who is the other big story.

Phil Perry wrote that Cam was the starter. You can go read his article to find out the reason but between the two quarterbacks on Monday, he declared Jones the victor of the day. 

Here's what Perry said, "Where Jones won the day was that while his relatively inaccurate throws were sometimes still caught, and sometimes for explosive gains, Newton's often seemed to find the mitts of opposing defenders."

This has been a consistent theme going back to OTAs, Jones wins the day but Newton doesn't do enough to lose the job. Even though Jones had his two meltdowns, he's showing more and more leadership. How many days does he have to win before Newton's week one start gets called into question? That's the million dollar question. As most everyone is positive that he will start at some point this season based on both quarterbacks. With that here's Monday's overview.

Cam Newton

If I had to give four words for what I read on Cam's performance on Monday, it would be: drops, inconsistency, inaccuracy, unreliablity. Some will say I'm being too hard. Newton is the starter, and yes I hear the excuse "he's a former MVP" but so was Joe Flacco. And I don't hear calls for Flacco to start for the Patriots. Newton was a former MVP six years ago. A lot has changed since then, mainly he's aged and his body has taken more abuse.

The offensive line has been inconsistent with pass blocking. And Newton continues to hold the ball too long and be oblivious to his guys getting beat. This has been happening since minicamp and it leads to the fact that Thursday wasn't just about Young beating Wynn. It's about Newton's pocket presence being suspect.

Mike Kaye of NJ.com Wrote about Newton, "Newton, when he wasn’t targeting WR Nelson Agholor (more on him later) or N’Keal Harry (also, more on him later), seemed to struggle with his accuracy and timing. During several reps, Newton’s clock in the pocket tended to go over the four- or five-second mark."

Mike Giardi tweeted basically the same thing Kaye said. Giardi tweeted, "Cam Newton was riding the struggle bus all practice long..."

If one looks at Newton's stats they look pretty good but reportedly by many, his stats are an illusion. Newton was 13 of 21 with turnovers and sacks while primarily practicing with the starters. He also had a few passes knocked down at the line. Newton's goal line and red zone accuracy was seemingly his worst.

In the two minute drill Newton started good with Mike Reiss saying it was his "best stretch of work" but once again failed to close the drive and seal the deal as it appeared he started throwing to Eric Wilson. Conflicting reports on if that was on him or the pass catchers.

While Evan Lazar agreed with Reiss, he also wrote, "He had three passes broken up, two that were nearly intercepted, was sacked twice, and then threw an interception to end his practice." 

Phil Perry wrote, "It wasn't Newton's play that gave him the look of a starter. He was hesitant to throw at times. He threw into traffic. There was the 'gotta have it' moment that yielded an interception. There were four more throws -- including two near-picks by linebacker Alex Singleton in 7-on-7 work -- that were broken up by the Philadelphia defense."

I sure hope not because if that's what made Newton look like the starter, then the team is in trouble. The reason Phil said Newton was the starter, is the same reason people who watched the game against the Washington Football Team would say is why Newton is the starter.

One more thing before I go on to Mac. I've been saying Newton's accuracy and ball placement were a liability. And Newton helped make my case on Monday. Not just with pass breakups and turnovers. Everyone is saying Cam Newton led LaCosse into Barnett, for a nasty collision. Many fans are going after Barnett. Phil Perry said of the play, "Barnett, going after the football, couldn't turn in time to get out of LaCosse's way, it appeared." It's easier right now to go after Barnett for Patriots fans then to admit Newton's passing ability got his player hurt.

Mac Jones

Jones was 17 of 25. He got to work a little with the starters but it was primarily the second and third string units playing with him. Jones was quicker to get rid of the ball than Cam, which is good because of the offensive line play. Accuracy and ball placement started good on the day but fell off around the midway point but ended on a high note with a two minute touchdown to Harry. That's been a problem with Jones, consistancy. He has only had one or two complete days from start to finish.

Jones's showed off his pocket presence by moving in the pocket and hitting Agholor down the sideline. He also avoided pressure to find Bourne for a completion. He made his share of good throws on the day but Jones also had Wilkerson and Olszewski deep but it looked like he was throwing to the deep defenders instead of his pass catchers according to Patriots media.

Mike Giardi tweeted, "Mac Jones rode a bit of the roller coaster today. He did lead Nelson Agholor for a deep TD in 7-on-7s and later, in 11-on-11, did something similar with N'Keal Harry. He was nearly picked 2x during his final drive, including an ill-advised deep ball to Gunner."

Jones reportedly had a bad two minute drill, with a near turnover and a pass breakup. Zack Cox called Jones's two minute drill "sloppy." Little bits of Newton's passing game seem to be rubbing off on Jones and not in a good way. Jones is clearly the better and more accurate passer between himself and Cam Newton but at times he channels Newton. Most of the time fortunately it's not gonna hurt the team,  unlike his mentor.

Zack Cox wrote, "He had poorly placed or ill-advised throws to Kristian Wilkerson, Jakobi Meyers, Gunner Olszewski and Sony Michel."

Phil Perry also pointed it out writing, "he appeared to be late or behind on several of his competitive reps. Three in a row in 7-on-7 -- a throw behind Wilkerson, a late attempt to Jakobi Meyers, a deep ball to Nelson Agholor that was completed but slightly behind -- were just off."

While they can't make contact with him, the Eagles defense isn't going to go as easy on Jones as his teammates would. Mike Reiss wrote, "overall, seemed like a challenging day for Jones."

There's been a lot of talk about if Mac Jones should start week one. He appears to be working on controlling his emotions but before Mac Jones can start week one, he needs to show he can consistently play from start to finish throughout training camp. 

Receivers: Harry, Bourne, and Agholor all won on the day. Meyers, Wilkerson had bad days according to several writers. Gunner was some place in between. And yes, receiver's coach  Lombardi was in their ear for all those drops and miscues. If the team has to rely on this bunch due to injuries at tight end, the team is going to be a middle of the pack team again.

One quick thought, everyone seems to be freaking out about all the injuries to the tight end position. It is not as bad as it seems. While Jakob Johnson has played fullback exclusively thus far, the international player was a tight end for the Stuttgart Scorpions in germany prior to coming to the NFL. People have been worried about Johnson getting replaced by a tight end, Johnson is more versatile than people give him credit for. McDaniels and Belichick need to see what they have in him besides a few emergency swing passes.