On Friday night, the New England Patriots wrapped up a stretch of six practices in six days when they held their annual in-stadium practice at Gillette Stadium. The practice is free to attend for season ticket holders and residents of Foxborough.
As had been the case the past few years the practices was structured as a scrimmage. The roster was broken up into two teams (full rosters Might be missing a player still, but I'm pretty sure these are the rosters for tonight's Patriots scrimmage. pic.twitter.com/1oOhRUYafY
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Given the practice was held at such a slow place, the football takeaways from the night are limited. The point of this practice is two-fold. First, it’s procedural. This gives the team a chance to show new players where they need to be and when they need to be there in the stadium for a gameday environment. That includes pre-game warmup routines to bench and substitution protocols.
The other thing that the team focuses heavily on in this practice is special teams. Being in the stadium, kickers, punters, and returners have a chance to familiarize themselves with the lighting, sight lines, and wind patterns of the stadium. That’s especially relevant this year, given the construction that’s taken place in the north end zone, closing in that end with the new scoreboard.
Given that, how did the specialists perform on Friday night? Let’s take a look…
Kickers
New England Patriots kicker Chad Ryland warms up during 2023 minicamp in Foxboro. (Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports)
Both kickers attempted four field goals on the night, in addition to their extra points (which were all good). Here’s a look at the results…
Nick Folk:
–GOOD from 38 yards towards the lighthouse end
–GOOD from 41 yards towards the lighthouse end
–GOOD from 32 yards towards the banners end
–NO GOOD from 48 yards towards the banners endChad Ryland:
–NO GOOD from 45 yards towards the banners end
–GOOD from 43 yards towards the banners end
–GOOD from 43 yards yards towards the banners end
–GOOD from 49 yards towards the lighthouse endPunters
Punters Corliss Waitman and Bryce Baringer wait on a snap from long snapper Tucker Addington at Patriots training camp. (Alex Barth/98.5 The Sports Hub)
Nobody got more work during this practice than the punters. In fact, the second ‘half’ off the scrimmage started out with them trading punts play for play. Here are the hang times…
Bryce Baringer:
–5.22 seconds
–4.69
–5.04
–4.81
–5.07Corliss Waitman:
–4.31
–4.79
–4.16
–4.92Baringer’s 5.04-second punt was the best of the night. It traveled 65 yards, and sent returner Demario Douglas scrambling back to field it.
New snappers
Diego Fagot takes the field for the New England Patriots before practice during 2023 training camp in Foxboro. (98.5 The Sports Hub)
Friday’s practice also saw two players taking snapping reps that we haven’t seen much of – or at all. After spending most of camp working as a guard, rookie Jake Andrews got to return to his natural position of center in the split-squad setting.
There was also a moment leading up to practice when linebacker Diego Fagot took some reps as a long-snapper. He was working with his fellow Naval Academy graduate Joe Cardona during that time. To this point, Fagot has just repped as a linebacker in practice.
What’s next?
The Patriots huddle up before their first training camp practice of 2023 (Alex Barth/98.5 The Sports Hub)
The Patriots will be off on Saturday – their first off day in a week after six days of practice in a row. They’ll return to the practice fields on Sunday, for the first of three practices leading up to their training camp opener against the Houston Texans on Thursday.
