FOXBOROUGH — The Patriots returned to the red zone for the second straight practice on Thursday morning.
All of New England’s scrimmage periods were spent inside the 20-yard line, as Bill Belichick looks to remedy an area where his offense struggled in 2022. As was the case on Wednesday, the defense got the better of Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe, but there were some new standouts on Day 2.
Here are 11 takeaways from the backfields at Gillette Stadium:
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1. Marcus Jones makes it happen
After not starting with the first team on Wednesday, Marcus Jones got a ton of run there in New England’s second practice — and held his own. Playing primarily on the boundary, Jones forced DeVante Parker out of bounds on an early jump ball in 7-on-7s despite giving up seven inches to the 6-foot-3 pass catcher.
He blanketed Kendrick Bourne on another route where the wide receiver was clearly Mac Jones’ No. 1 option, and the cornerback’s headiest play of the morning came when he was once again matched up with Parker in 11-on-11s. With nobody getting open, Mac Jones broke out of the pocket while Marcus Jones ran with Parker in the back of the end zone. Realizing this, the cornerback simply pushed the wide receiver out of bounds, eliminating him from the play in totally legal fashion because there’s no illegal contact penalty there. Parker’s size advantage didn’t matter. There was nothing he could do.
JuJu Smith-Schuster did beat Jones for a touchdown at one point, but there was far more good than bad for the second-year defensive back on Thursday.
2. Primarily kick returner, too
With a heavy emphasis on special teams, Marcus Jones was also the first returner up for kickoffs. While he hasn’t made a cameo on offense yet, it’s clear Jones will have a lot on his plate once again in 2023. Side note: Guess who ran the special teams drills again? Joe Judge.
3. Quiet start for key WRs
After plenty of offseason hype, Kendrick Bourne and Tyquan Thornton haven’t gotten off to fast starts in training camp. Thornton has yet to catch a pass in team drills, while has Bourne registered just one, and it came in a three-quarter speed session against the scout team defense. Some of this could be due to the heavy dose of red zone work where other pass catchers like the tight ends are more likely to be targeted, but it’s something to watch moving forward.
4. Jack Jones impactful with backups
Running with the second team again on Thursday, Jack Jones had a pair of pass breakups. It’s unsurprising. The cornerback clearly has the ability to be playing against the starters. It’s his reliability that has him relegated to backup duty.
5. Jabrill Peppers vocal in secondary
Replacing Devin McCourty has been a major storyline in New England this offseason, and while it looks like they’re going to do it by committee, Jabrill Peppers was McCourty-esque in one of the 11-on-11 drills. With Joshuah Bledsoe in need of assistance before the snap, it was Peppers who yelled across the field to get him situated. Any potential fire was put out before the play began.
6. Almost a full house
There were only three Patriots missing once again: Michael Onwenu (PUP), Calvin Anderson (NFI) and Cody Davis (PUP). With Onwenu and Anderson sidelined, the offensive line remained the same. Left to right: Trent Brown, Cole Strange, David Andrews, Bill Murray, Riley Reiff.
7. Matthew Judon still limited
For the second straight day, Matthew Judon was present but not doing a whole lot. After stretching with his teammates, the Pro Bowler spent quite a bit of time rehabbing on the lower fields and didn’t participate in team drills. Scheduled to speak to the media, Judon was unavailable after practice.
8. Kicker competition kicks off
After Nick Folk appeared to go 5-for-5 on Wednesday, rookie Chad Ryland got a crack on Thursday and looked to match that mark with a long of 45 yards.
Full disclosure: The media section is situated in an area where it’s not easy to discern kicks going through the set of goalposts they’ve been kicking on, but all 10 kicks this far have had the distance and appeared to split the posts.
9. A telling clue in the other battle
Though the punters haven’t started booting the ball in full-team drills yet, Bryce Baringer has been the holder for both Nick Folk and Chad Ryland. It’s a sign that he has an early leg up on Corliss Waitman, as Bill Belichick puts a lot of emphasis on streamlining the snapper-holder-kicker operation.
10. Ty Montgomery shaken up
On a Trace McSorely pass thrown behind him, Ty Montgomery collided with Terez Hall in 11-on-11 drills. The veteran back was slow to get up with an apparent injury to his left leg. He returned to practice briefly for a three-quarter speed drill, but then was sidelined for the rest of the session.
11. A couple rooks work with the vet
During an offense-defense period, rookies Ameer Speed and Jourdan Heilig went to work with Matthew Slater. In vying for a roster spot at a hyper-competitive core special teamer position, there’s obviously no better player to work alongisde than Slater.
