The New England Patriots ran their first padded practice, but it didn’t seem to elevate energy levels or execution for the offense. The defense — which had won the recent practices without pads — was back to beating up on the offense. In some cases, the defense simply capitalized upon the offense’s mistakes.
Take Mac Jones’ lone interception, for example. In an 11-on-11 drill, the quarterback seemed not to see cornerback Terrance Mitchell, who had dropped into zone coverage on the right side of the defense. Receiver Tyquan Thornton dragged over the middle into Mitchell’s zone and Jones threw the ball right to the cornerback. And perhaps that scared the downfield passing out of Jones, who spent much of the practice checking down to his slot receivers and running backs.
Here’s more from today’s session.