Patriots training camp notebook: Back in stadium on Day 12

Author Alex Barth

August 10th, 2021 7:17 PM

For their 12th training camp practice – and final practice before the preseason opener – the Patriots headed back inside Gillette Stadium for their second in-stadium session of the summer. With players in shorts and shells, it was a noticeably slower tempo than the previous two days in full pads on the practice field.

The theme of the day, much like the first in-stadium practice, seemed to be procedural. There was an apparent focus on substitutions, personnel groupings, and situational football.

As with most in-stadium practices, there was a focus on special teams as well. Quinn Nordin got a chance to follow up on his 10-of-10 performance last week and was perfect again, albeit with less volume as he went 4-for-4. Jake Bailey and the punt team saw a heavy workload as well.

• Taking attendance

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  A trio of players returned for the Patriots after missing previous practices. Running back Brandon Bolden, cornerback D'Angelo Ross, and safety Adrian Colbert were all on the field on Tuesday. Colbert was wearing a red non-contact jersey.
  
  Five non-PUP/NFI players were missing from Tuesday's session. Among them was David Andrews, who posted on Instagram shortly after practice began announcing the birth of his son. The other absences were Hunter Henry, Christian Barmore, Joe Cardona, and Nick Folk.
  
  The Patriots also made a roster move before Tuesday's practice, signing safety Malik Gant, who was with the team in camp in 2019 before suffering a season-ending injury. Gant was present at practice on Tuesday. In order to make room on the roster, running back Tyler Gaffney was released.

• Notable Quotables

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  Matt Judon on how often Bill Belichick shows film of Lawrence Taylor: "Shoot, I don’t know, man. That’s his guy. You know he coached him. That was probably one of the many greats he coached, but that was one of the first ones he coached, he got the opportunity to spend a lot of time with. He’s fond in Coach Belichick’s heart."
  
  Trent Brown on being back in New England: "Man, it’s just being in a place where I’m wanted, you know what I’m saying? Being in a place I actually want to be, and just having fun with ball again. Everything is clicking on all cylinders, all parts of my life, so I’m just happy for that."
  
  Davon Godchaux on his goals for Thursday night's game: "Just matching my technique up, each and every play seeing where it’s at. Like I said, been practicing against each other the last couple of days. You know, beating up on each other, so now it's exciting to go against somebody else with not having preseason last year. So I'm very excited this year to have preseason to match my technique up and see where my skill set is at."
  
  Jalen Mills on being coached by Bill Belichick: "I think at this point, it's finally kind of sunk in now. Still an amazing thing to be coached by Bill, of course. Just his mind and being able to soak in all the knowledge that he coaches with me or anybody else. Still an honor."
  
  Jakobi Meyers on Mac Jones: "He's a real fast learner, you know? This isn't an easy offense to just jump into and be able to pick up and play -- especially with a guy like Josh McDaniels who is going to expect the best out of you every day you come here. The fact that Mac can go in, get yelled at, bounce back and and come back and do the right thing, and not make the same mistakes twice, that's something that's really good to be a Patriot and have."

For more on Tuesday night’s practice and the upcoming preseason opener, check out today’s training camp recap podcast featuring Matt Dolloff.

MORE: Patriots roster projection 1.0

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Author Alex Barth

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