Ahead of a pair of joint practices, the New England Patriots dialed things down on Tuesday holding a walkthrough practice.
Here’s what went down on the fields behind Gillette Stadium.
Setting
Attire: Jerseys, shorts, sneakers and bucket hats
Duration: ca. 80 minutes (10:10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. ET)
Conditions: Sunny, temperatures in the high 70s
In typical walkthrough fashion, players wore sneakers and just their jerseys throughout practice.
Attendance
Absent: CB Christian Gonzalez, OLB Xavier Holmes, LB Chad Muma, OL Ben Brown, WR Kyle Dixon
Returnee: WR Kobe Prentice
PUP/NFI: ED Harold Landry III, S Brenden Schooler
New England’s usual group remain sidelined on Tuesday, again headlined by cornerback Christian Gonzalez.
“He’s just in the return to play,” Mike Vrabel said on Monday. “We’ll continue to work through that, and he’ll continue to try to improve and try to get back out on the field.”
The Patriots did see wide receiver Kobe Prentice return to the field while outside linebacker Jesse Luketa was also present after leaving Monday’s session early.
Takeaways
Walkthrough notes: As they have done under Mike Vrabel, work was done at a walkthrough pace in order to manage players’ workloads while keeping the focus on the mental side of the game. In a slower setting, just a few things stood out:
- Efton Chism III continues to be used with the first team offense and also has worked as a personal protector the past two practices for the first time.
- Veteran running backs Hassan Haskins and JaMycal Hasty appear to be the top options behind Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson.
- Rookie pass rushers Gabe Jacas and Quintayvious Hutchins continue to rep with the first-team defense behind Dre’Mont Jones and Elijah Ponder.
- Julian Edelman was in attendance.
Guard depth: After top interior backups Ben Brown and Andrew Rupcich suffered injuries in the preseason opener, the Patriots reportedly signed veteran guard Greg Van Roten this week. Van Roten was not in attendance for Tuesday’s walkthrough, but should hit the ground running upon his arrival as he has plenty of connections with the team — such as playing under Josh McDaniels in Las Vegas and top personnel figures Eliot Wolf and Ryan Cowden in Green Bay and New York, in addition to Morgan Moses and Alijah Vera-Tucker with the Jets.
“Very smart player,” Vera-Tucker said of Van Roten.
Preview
The Patriots will be back on the practice fields Wednesday and welcome the Philadelphia Eagles to town for a pair of joint practices. The first is slated to start at 10:15 a.m. ET with Mike Vrabel set to speak beforehand.