New England Patriots: Patriots and Eagles Finalize Practice
The New England Patriots three joint practices with the Philadelphia Eagles are now in the rearview mirror as the team anticipates for Friday’s game. The heavy work was done in Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s practice, and today, the team focused on walkthrough, stretching, special teams situational work and running through drills at half-speed with the exception of 7-on-7 period. Nevertheless, there were some highlights in today’s practice.
Aug 6, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly and New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick during a joint NFL training camp at the NovaCare complex. Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports
Rookie wide receiver Aaron Dobson got coach Bill Belichick’s disciplinary fury first hand on Tuesday after getting into a scuffle with Philadelphia Eagles defensive back Cary Williams and went off the field for the day. Today, the rookie learned another valuable lesson as ESPN Boston Field Yates reported that after Tom Brady hooked up with Dobson on an out-breaking route with seconds left on the simulated game clock; Dobson was slow in getting out of bounds. Field Yates refers that coach Belichick implored Dobson to get out of bounds, focusing on the importance of acting fast to not risk the clock expire.
Patriots Football Weekly Eric Scalavino notes that cornerback Alfonzo Dennard left on a bad note as he was seen leaving the field with strength and conditioning coach Harold Nash post team stretching. That’s really no good for Dennard as it creates a big setback preparing his body for football shape. Besides, it is still unknown if Dennard will miss any games due to his legal issues. Even if the injury is minor, it’s best for Dennard to miss the opening preseason game to diminish any potential of further aggravation.
On the offense, Boston Globe Ben Volin points out that it’s becoming normal for Zach Sudfeld to make one-handed catch. He also noted that Tim Tebow had a top play throwing a deep face pass to Quentin Sims in 7-on-7 drills at the end of practice. Later on Tebow was asked if he will be playing on Friday, but he said he did not know. I suspect to see Tebow on the field perhaps during the fourth quarter – really curious to see what will happen and I hope Tebow make us proud.
Get your beer, wine, pizza, and all the good stuff because tomorrow night we have a Pats game. It’s going to be a fun season!