The New England Patriots logged their second and third day of training camp practice this week, with the team finally logging a full-speed practice session on Friday. This was the first opportunity for players to play competitive reps, even if they weren’t playing in pads yet. The lack of contact favors the offensive players — something Bill Belichick often reminds any media member who touts an offensive player for his early practice work — but it’s the closest the players have gotten to real football since last season.
Belichick was pleased to amp up the competition, expressing how excited he was continue to move forward despite the setbacks from the novel coronavirus pandemic, which resulted in the cancellation of minicamp and offseason team activities. Because the NFL is limiting the number of media members at practice, we’ve taken a look at the notes of reporters at Patriots.com to share their observations and form our takeaways.
A reminder of how different this year’s training camp has been
Bill Belichick, in his excitement about getting in a full-speed practice, also shared a sobering piece of reality about how behind the NFL is.
“Last night (Thursday) would have been our first preseason game,” Belichick said, referring to the cancelled preseason matchup against the Lions. “We haven’t even had a team full-speed practice yet, let alone in pads. So, that’s where we are compared to where we normally are, but that’s not really relevant. What’s relevant is where we are and what we can do now, so that’s what we’re going to focus on.”
S Kyle Dugger not immediately stumped by the NFL
During a press conference on Friday morning, Belichick went on and on about how the 2020 rookies were going to fall behind and quickly this season.
“They’re in deep water and turbulent water, and it’s going to get rougher, just in terms of the volume and the level of competition and becoming a professional athlete,” Belichick said. “Each day is an acclimation day, an adjustment day for them, and I think they’re just trying to keep their head above water and try to swim or paddle in the right direction knowing that they’re not able to keep up.”
All that said — and he said even more on the topic — Dugger had a really good first practice of competitive reps, even logging an interception. That’s a very small indicator of how he’ll fare in 2020, but it’s a positive one.
He played in DII in college, and it is easy to wonder how he’ll handle the big jump in competition to the NFL. We’ll see if his positive play continues when contact begins on Monday.