The Patriots will be back on the fields behind Gillette Stadium for their third and final day of practice this week. They've had two long, hot (and ugly, at times) practices back-to-back. Might that mean we see a more laid-back session before the team takes a day off Saturday and heads off to Detroit on Sunday?
When's it start?
No press conferences before Friday's practice so things get started with the typical walkthrough. That'll be about 9:45 a.m. Practice is scheduled to go a couple of hours -- though it could go shorter than that -- and then players will be available after. Day off Saturday. Travel day on Sunday.
What to expect?
We did a pretty good job predicting what Day 7 would look like simply by looking back at what the team did for Day 7 last year. If that schedule were to hold, then Friday's practice could be one in which Tom Brady essentially gets the day off. He was present and accounted for (it was his birthday) on Day 8 of practice last year, but he didn't take a single competitive snap. Those were left for Brian Hoyer (30 attempts in 11-on-11 drills) and Danny Etling (12 attempts in 11-on-11 drills). That could mean Friday is a busy day for Hoyer and Jarrett Stidham. Day 8 was a padded practice last year so it would come as no surprise if the Patriots were in pads for the third consecutive day. They'll have some time to recover this weekend.
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The backup quarterbacks could be in focus on Friday, meaning it'll be a good opportunity for us to get another look at Stidham. Hoyer is a known commodity at this point. He's had some tough stretches of play early in practices only to find something of a rhythm later in the session. Stidham is more interesting to watch because we don't know what his ceiling is. Before the draft, some thought he had the talent to be the best passer in the class. He's had encouraging days this week, completing 6 of his last 9 competitive throws following Tuesday's off-day. On Thursday he peppered the Cover-2 "turkey hole" with two strong throws (though contested) that went for long gains to rookie receivers. A third throw on the same type of route just sailed slightly out of bounds, pulling a leaping Jakobi Meyers beyond the boundary. Meyers, one of the stars in camp thus far, caught it anyway.
We're still waiting on Isaiah Wynn to be fully activated. But in the meantime, the Patriots have used 6-foot-9 Dan Skipper as the starting left tackle. Even if Wynn will be healthy enough to play Week 1, it wouldn't be a bad idea for the Patriots to have some tackle depth beyond Joe Thuney. Maybe Skipper is that guy? He's had a hard time in the one-on-one periods, but it's clear the coaching staff wants to try him with the first unit to see whether or not he fits in.
I'll continue to watch the defensive back group. Does Duke Dawson show us more? Is undrafted rookie D'Angelo Ross (two breakups Thursday) someone we should be paying attention to? Can 6-foot-4 JoeJuan Williams build a little more positive momentum before heading out to Detroit and potentially seeing reps against talented 6-4 receiver Kenny Golladay? He's had solid reps against N'Keal Harry this week.
The tight ends are worth our attention as well. It's been a tough couple days for them. Five drops between Ben Watson and Matt LaCosse in the last two sessions. They need someone who can catch consistently. They need someone who can move people in the running game. Sometimes it's hard to tell who's getting a good push while we sit up in the media tent, but we know LaCosse is getting a lot of the work with the top unit in one and/or two-tight end sets. Can this group submit a positive day before heading into a day off?
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