New England Patriots: Tom Brady, Brandin Cooks shine in joint practice

The New England Patriots hosted the Jacksonville Jaguars for the first of two joint practices. Late in the practice, Tom Brady began to shine.

As the New England Patriots generally like to do, they hosted the Jacksonville Jaguars for the first of two joint practices. This Thursday, the Patriots, and Jaguars will be playing each in their first preseason game.

While practicing against your own team is certainly helpful, it is definitely better to get in some reps against another team. After coming off their fifth Super Bowl, the Patriots are looking to be sharp for their regular season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs.

One of the most important things for the Patriots will, of course, to have Tom Brady ready for the regular season. This offseason, the Patriots acquired some new weapons for Brady, and it certainly takes time to get used to playing with them.

During the joint practice, there were certainly some mistakes as one would expect. However, Tom Brady began to find his groove late in the practice session. On back-to-back plays, Brady was able to hit Brandin Cooks on a deep pass, and then he followed it up with one to Chris Hogan.

Seeing Cooks and Brady get on the same page in the joint practice was certainly good to see. Cooks has explosive potential in the Patriots’ offense and will be a great weapon for them this season. On the deep catch by Cooks, it’s worth noting that he was able to beat A.J. Bouye, who was a big free agent signing by the Jaguars.

Cooks was able to total seven catches on the day from Brady, as it was his best day in training camp so far. With Week 1 of the preseason just days away, that is a very good sign.

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It is certainly an encouraging sign to see the Patriots have some success against the Jaguars in their first joint practice. Since the two teams likely won’t be using their starters often in Week 1 of the preseason, this was a good sign for New England. With another joint practice set for Tuesday, it will be interesting to see how the Patriots fare against the Jaguars on the second day.