The New England Patriots continued their final week of their offseason program on Wednesday with Day 2 of mandatory minicamp. While intensity levels were dialed down, there were still things to take away from the session.
Here’s what went down on the lower practice field in a hot Foxboro day.
Absentees: OT Morgan Moses, ED Gabe Jacas, ED Harold Landry III
The same three players were absent again on Wednesday, with veteran Harold Landry making another brief appearance on the stationary bike. As for veteran offensive tackle Morgan Moses, who did not finish last week’s OTA session, head coach Mike Vrabel said the team was managing his workload.
“He will be very important to us going forward. So, just trying to make sure that we manage him,” Vrabel said. “Figure that every rep now is probably one less that he may take in the season. We want to try to get him to a point where he is ready to go and give each guy exactly what they need. Everybody will have a plan.”
Dialing back: After an intense, red-zone focused practice on Tuesday, the Patriots worked largely at a jog through pace on Wednesday. The expectation is then to ramp things back up on Thursday for the final day of minicamp.
“It will look a little different today, just by design, as far as the pace that you will see,” Vrabel said prior to practice. “But we will come back and get that same speed that we had yesterday further down in the red zone tomorrow.”
Sled push: The largest competitive period of the day came during the final session of practice, when players split into their 13 “family groups” of roughly seven and raced to push wooden sleds 40 yards. Each sled featured a different team motto, including “Belief and Identity,” “Push the Pile,” and “Finish Longer Than the Guy With the Ball.”
Groups were timed and awarded points, which were added to their spring totals. Those standings also include points earned through other team-building competitions, such as a scavenger hunt around the new facility.
Staying busy: Still early in his Patriots tenure, A.J. Brown continued to take a large amount of reps as he gets acclimated to the offense and builds chemistry with Drake Maye. New England cycled through many different positional groups during the walkthrough which saw Brown involved again in multiple spots.
“I think that having some knowledge of who A.J. was before he got here helps us know that he’s gonna integrate quickly, and that’s been great to watch,” wide receiver coach Todd Downing said. “I’ve certainly had some conversations with Josh [McDaniels] about things that I know are right up A.J.‘s alley and in his skill set. I would say that we’re pretty early in the process of what that would look like in terms of game planning or anything like that. I’m sure those conversations will come more and more as A.J. gets more and more comfortable.”
Lomu’s versatility: With Morgan Moses sidelined again, rookie Caleb Lomu repped as the top right tackle. Lomu also got plenty of work at his natural left tackle position with the second unit. That versatility has stood out early on to his head coach.
“He is getting a lot of reps. I love the versatility,” Vrabel said. “His flexibility and versatility has been something that I think has stood out. He learns quickly, usually doesn’t make the same mistake twice. And it is different, so the guys that you are trying to put in different places and say, ‘You have got to get as much reps on the left as you do on the right,’ that’s important. So, he has done a nice job of that.”
Punter tryout: The Patriots invited Mitch McCarthy to rookie minicamp earlier this offseason, and then hosted Arkansas punter Devin Bale on a tryout on Tuesday. Bale was then back on the practice field on Wednesday. With Bryce Baringer entering a contract year, the team has made sure to have competition around in some fashion — which opens the door for the team signing one prior to training camp.
