What They Said About The First Week Of Patriots Camp.

After three days in camp, here are various take aways I got from various sources. Hopefully there is a pattern. I am not listing source names because people are bias against particular sources and I would rather people keep an open mind. If you pay attention to Patriots media, you should know basically what source said what. 

Source One:

A few injured players missing including Anderson, Onwenu, Davis all being out. Mitchell and Guy returned. All three days were soft red zone practice.

Quarterbacks looking poor the in red zone, with Mac looking the best of the three. The plays were looking scripted, the quarterbacks were holding on to the ball too long and throwing into coverage.

Stevenson had a good day on day one, was limited on day two and returned to full go on day three. Strong and Harris got extra reps the first two days but Strong appeared on day three to be the number two back. Montgomery is a receiver and was having a good camp the first two days before getting injured and was not present day three.

Thorton and Bourne have had zero production during the three days and appear to be slipping at the moment. Boutte was okay and Douglass has had a good camp and appears early to be rising up the depth chart. Parker and JuJu are the clear one and two.

Henry has had a good camp, Gesicki has been okay, Lumpkin and Sokol have made plays and Sokol appears to be climbing the depth chart as he's getting extra reps. Murray still starting and having a good camp. Reiff has been struggling and was demoted for McDermott on day three. The rookies are all third stringers and not getting used.

Mapu has been limited and Hall was limited on day three after getting injured on day two. Judon returned from the injury field and is disgruntled about his contract situation. White, Jennings, Tavaii, Uche, Munson, Wise, Barmore, and Wilson have all had a good couple of days in the front seven.

Bolden, Gonzalez, Miles, Peppers, Jon, Jack and Marcus Jones especially had a good couple of days but the secondary it self has shined. Jack Jones was demoted. Marcus and Jon Jones got extra reps. No change in kicker battle and limited action in the returner duty for both punts and kicks.

Source Two:

Red zone practice which gives the defensive the advantage. No contact, designed for offensive players to show their seperation skills. The offense was primarily 12 personnel. Offense was inconsistent and scripted. Drops, timing and communication were the biggest issues. Offense got better when they backed away from the goal line. 

There is no quarterback competition. Jones had looked good, Zappe has looked conservative and McSorely is a practice squad guy.

Montgomery was the star of camp before getting hurt and is a slot back. Stevenson was limited day two and it appeared to be to give Strong and Harris an extra look. Taylor looked better than both sophomores.

JuJu and Parker had a good couple of days. Douglas is working a lot with Mac. Douglas is climbing the depth chart and Thorton appears to be falling, him and Bourne are getting reps but not prodction. Boutte has had a bad camp and is not finishing plays. Henry's had a good camp and Gesicki's not being targeted.

Brown looks good. Murray has had a good camp and right tackle is a cause for concern. Reiff got demoted for McDermott, remember Reiff is a run blocker and needs contact.

Judon was a full go on Friday. Dugger, Bolden and Gonzalez have been good. Jack Jones has been dominant against the number twos. The secondary as a whole, has been dominant in the shorter area where the offense cannot separate.

Source Three:

Red zone and short yardage practices, which favors defense. Offensive timing is an issue. Limited number of running plays. Patriots been using almost exclusively 12 personnel. The offense looks better ran that last year already.

Mac has been practicing and taking shots, Zappe has been extremely conservative and dumping it off. There is no quarterback competition.

Stevenson was limited day two. Montgomery shined and got injured again. The other backs need to step up. Parker and JuJu are the starters. JuJu looks out of shape. Thorton and Bourne have had a bad camp so far. Mac is throwing to Henry and not Gesicki. Brown is back and looking good. Right tackle is looking like a cause for concern.

Gonzalez, Jonathan Jones, Bryant and Marcus Jones have been the starting corners. Jack Jones was demoted but is playing well. Safety was a rotation. Judon did a hold in, which led to White getting extra reps. Tavaii and Peppers had a good couple days.

Nothing much of anything significant at the moment to really make a story of.

Source Four:

Practice has been a walk through. Offense looks already better than last year.  Mac was acting like a leader and appears to be giving maximum effort. Mac was the clear starter, played decent thus far. Zappe was nothing special and not getting the same level of competition as Mac, which he should be dominating if he was on Mac's level or better.

Montgomery looked good is a receiver that lines up occasionally in the backfield and looked like the third down back. Strong looked good as a pass catcher out of the backfield. Strong and Harris looked good and got extra reps when Stevenson limited. 

Douglass was with the starters and looks like he's moving up the depth chart. Reiff started okay before struggling and Stueber has had a bad camp but remember there's no contact.

Gonzalez is corner one. Bryant started as the slot corner but the Patriots have been rotating the entire secondary outside of Gonzo. Dugger has been the star of the first three days. Mapu has looked good, both him and Gonzalez have been the best rookies. Berringer appears to have won the punting job, and although the rookie kicker has a stronger leg, it looks too close to call yet.

Source Five:

Patriots ran 12 personnel and practiced primarily in the red zone. Ordinary camp, except Judin is doing a hold in. Tight and soft red zone practice. No quarterback competition. Offensive timing and communication issues present. Offense was scripted and struggled to pass in the red zone.

Quarterback play was bad, partially due to pass catchers. The offensive play calling needs to be more intelligent. Mac struggled to throw on the move. Mac showed leadership and putting in extra effort. Mac was finally able to throw on the move on day three but struggled prior to that.

Montgomery is the third down back and looked good until getting hurt on day two and missing day three. Stevenson was limited day two.

JuJu and Parker had good days, Bourne and Thorton not so much. Henry has looked good. Gesicki has had an unproductive camp.

Murray is starting. Trent Brown looked good. Reiff was consistently beat and inflated defensive production. McDermott promoted to starting right tackle.

Guy and Judon are disgruntled over contracts and Judon did a two day hold in and then was limited day three. Tavaii, Dugger, Uche, Barmore and Marcus Jones all had good days. The defense overall was good. Jon Jones was promoted over Jack Jones. Gonzalez has proven to be corner one.

Kicking competition is too close to call

Patriots need some depth but seem to be worried about a locker room mutiny and team moral.

Source Six:

Contactless red zone practice to start camp. Davis, Onwenu, and Anderson kept the team from having perfect attendance. Practice was uneventful and about execution. Team ran extra conditioning drills. Exclusive red zone practice. Heavy 12 personnel offense in the red zone practice. Offense was scripted and is working on communication.

Quarterbacks were bad, Mac was the best of the bunch and the only one that looked like an NFL quarterback. Mac struggles to throw on the move. Too much change in mechanics from the backups. A lot of coverage sacks. The team is trying to spread the ball.

Receiver and third down back Ty Montgomery was the star of the offense, Jalen Hurd is his backup. Montgomery was looking good until he got hurt on day two. He missed day three.

Sokol, Lumpkin and Henry have had a good camp. Gesicki's been okay, he's not being targeted.

The top four receivers got a lot of time. Parker, JuJu, and Douglas had a good day. Douglas is moving up the depth chart and is the best separater. He is looking like an Edelman clone in development. Thorton, Bourne and Boutte have looked bad. Boutte cannot finish. Tyquan looks like his rookie development was wasted. Receivers are struggling to get seperation. Pass catchers are not winning jump balls and are dropping passes. 

Trent Brown has secured left tackle but right tackle is a liability. Bill Murray was starting and Reiff was benched for McDermott. Reiff is not a no contact pass blocker.

Defense dominanted all three days, with several players had good plays and looking good. Barmore was limited early. Judon was limited and Mapu wore a no contact jersey. Hall got injured on day two and was limited day three.

Tavaii looks like a better overall player. Dugger looks like an all pro. Jack Jones looked good against the number twos but isn't starting. Gonzalez had a good day and is CB one.

Gonzalez, Bryant, Marcus and Jon Jones were the starters at corner. The Patriots are rotating corner two, the slot, and free safety. The secondary has looked one step ahead of the pass catchers so far.

Coaches divided up the special teams players. No change in kicker competition. And nothing to report in the punt game.

Overall:

Mac is the starter. Montgomery and Douglass appear to be all three quarterbacks favorite targets. Seperation is still an issue for the pass catchers. And the guys that are supposed to be good at catching the ball while covered (contested catch guys) are struggling to do so. The right tackle is inflating defensive stats and the secondary looks elite against this group of pass catchers. Special teams hasn't been the focus yet and the team needs to start hitting asap.