Five biggest takeaways from Patriots spring practices

On Wednesday, the Patriots wrapped up their spring practice schedule. That consisted of 10 optional OTA practices, plus this week’s three mandatory minicamp sessions. In total, media was present for six of the 13 practices.

Unlike training camp, all spring practices are conducted without pads, and drills are usually run at half speed. That makes the evaluation process slightly more difficult, but it doesn’t mean there’s nothing to take away from the last month of football. Here’s the biggest takeaways from this year’s spring practices.

• Mac Jones is making progress

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  It was an up-and-down few weeks for Patriots’ first-round pick Mac Jones. While he made some rookie mistakes at times, there were also no ‘red flag’ moments, or issues that seemed to be beyond repair.
  
  As the sessions went on, Jones’ progress was apparent. His ability to pick up coverages and time out passing windows seemed to evolve as the weeks went on. Even with a rough day on Wednesday in the final minicamp practice, it was an overall positive spring for the Alabama product.
  
  Will it be enough for Jonesto overtake Cam Newton for the starting job? There’s still a long way to go before that conversation begins, but he saw significant reps as the second quarterback, and there were instances of him getting one-on-one time with coaches.
  
  In some ways, it felt like the Jarrett Stidham-Cam Newton dynamic from last year’s training camp, where Newton made it clear early on he’d make a push for the starting job despite joining the process later on, and the team started to cater to that.
  
  Now, the big difference here is that while Newton had no experience with the Patriots, he had spent nearly a decade in the NFL, whereas Jones is coming in as a rookie. He’ll have a much more significant gap to overcome than Newton did last year, but he’s put himself in a strong position to make a run at the job.

• Second and third-year jump

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  When discussing the Patriots younger players, we often discuss the ‘second-year jump’ and ‘third-year jump.’ These are strides players make after having NFL experience under their belt. Through the spring practices, two clear candidates emerged for the biggest ‘jumps’ this year.
  
  Among the second-year players, Josh Uche stood out. In fact, he stood out compared to just about every other player on the field. He was constantly in the backfield during team drills, and his success carried over practice-to-practice and week-to-week. It’s hard to make definitive judgments about front seven players without seeing them in pads, but Uche seemed to make the most of every opportunity he was given this spring.
  
  As for the third-year group, Jakobi Meyers picked up where he left off after a solid 2020 campaign. A converted college quarterback, he continues to round out the finer points of his game as a wide receiver. With the team projected to use a significant amount of 12 personnel this season, snaps at the receiver position will be limited. Meyers showed this spring that he shouldn't be left out of the equation.

• First look at free agent additions

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  The spring practices afforded us our first in-person look at the Patriots’ many free agent additions. Again it’s still early, but the initial impressions were encouraging.
  
  Hunter Henry had a busy few weeks. Jonnu Smith saw plenty of action when he was on the field, but skipped the optional practices then suffered a minor injury during the first minicamp practice.
  
  At receiver, Kendrick Bourne showed promise as the type of receiver that typically succeeds in New England - a solid route runner and strong hands catcher. Nelson Agholor looked like a true No. 1 receiver at times, but struggled with drops later in the week.
  
  Defensively, Henry Anderson seemed to show the most pop, and often joined Uche in the backfield on the pass rush. Matt Judon was a consistent contributor in what was a dominant spring all around for the front seven as well - although again keep in mind the qualifier about no pads. On the back end, Jalen Mills was one of the best players on the field for the second day of minicamp.
• Versatility will be key for the defense

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  With so much veteran depth on the roster on the defensive side of the ball, positional versatility was and will likely continue to be a constant theme. Making the final 53-man roster this year won’t just be about how capable a player is at their primary positions, but how many positions they can contribute at at a capable level.
  
  As such, we saw players move all around the defense during these practices. “Playing in different spots this spring...we've done that with all the defensive backs and the linebackers and the defensive lineman for that matter too, they've all played multiple positions,” Belichick said on Wednesday, describing it as a learning experience.
  
  Josh Uche was one of many players to echo that sentiment. “I'm a football player at the end of the day, so I've got to be able to do whatever it is coach needs me to do,” he explained. Whatever I need to do to get that done is what I'm going to do.”

• Dont’a Hightower is BACK

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  While most of the Patriots’ 2020 opt outs didn’t end up returning for one reason or another, Dont’a Hightower still projects to play a key role - or even the key role - for the 2021 defense. Yet after a year away from the game, some wondered if the 31-year-old would still be in football shape.
  
  Hightower put that question to bed relatively quickly. Looking slimmed down since the last time we saw him, he showed he still has his impressive sideline-to-sideline range, and capped his display of athleticism with a leaping interception on Tuesday. That performance, combined with his blunt dismissal of retirement rumors, should leave no questions about where he’s at heading into training camp.

With the end of Wednesday’s practice, the Patriots now enter the closest thing there is to a ‘dead period’ on the NFL calendar. Outside of any news regarding Stephon Gilmore’s contract situation, there isn’t much expected to be on the docket between now and the beginning of training camp in late July.

The next month and a half is for the players to get themselves right physically and mentally for the task ahead. Once camp starts, it’s ‘go, go, go’ until the end of the season.

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Alex Barth is a writer and digital producer for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Looking for a podcast guest? Let him know on Twitter @RealAlexBarth or via email at abarth@985TheSportsHub.com.