Andy Hart has a few items worth mentioning from the morning walkthrough.
--A staple of the team’s offense in the past, the screen game has gotten plenty of work throughout the summer practice action. Look for a variety of different screen looks to unfold into the regular season, including options for both backs, tight ends and wide receivers.
--Offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia, as he so often does during training camp, did his own workouts following the conclusion of the walk-through. Clearly one of the hardest working coaches in the NFL in terms of his job, the New England coaching legend puts in an equally impressive effort maintaining his health through his regular post-practice summer workouts.
Mike Reiss notes the second practice was held in shorts and shells, at half-to-three-quarters speed. Jon Bon Jovi was present for the workout.
Brady, Moss … & Edelman. After the Patriots worked on a few plays inside the 10, quarterback Tom Brady wanted to go over some of the finer points of route combinations with two of his receivers – Randy Moss and Julian Edelman. It looked like Brady was tutoring Edelman on how he wanted a specific route run. That Edelman is on the receiving end of such instruction – and running combination routes with Moss – is an indication of his progress.
Ian Rapoport offers his notes from Tuesday afternoon's camp. The offense earned a night off from team meetings.
You know it’s getting late in camp when Patriots coach Bill Belichick breaks out his annual Random Big Guy Catching a Punt For A Reward kinda thing. And today was the day.
Belichick called up the players for a post-practice huddle, and a cheer emerged. Then, as excitement built, rookie offensive lineman Sebastian Vollmer — AKA Sea Bass — trotted down 40 yards to prepare to catch a punt from Chris Hanson.
While the team waited anxiously, Vollmer reeled in the wobbly kick, bouncing it off his chest and finally corralling it. Cue pandemonium and celebration.
Shalise Manza Young gives her take on the day's workout.
There was a lot of scout-team work in this session, with the top offense going against the scout team defense and vice-versa. Jamar Love was repeatedly beat by Randy Moss for catches and touchdowns.
Belichick spent a few minutes along the sidelines with Derrick Burgess at one point, and appeared to be explaining a technique to the newest Patriot. Belichick did not appear angry, he was simply discussing the finer points, putting his hands in Burgess' chest at one point to illustrate his point.
Paul Perillo discusses Brady's excitement to play in preseason plus news and notes from Tuesday's camp.
Who’s hot: Randy Moss – I’m falling into the typical training camp trap of selecting Moss, fully aware that I could substantiate doing so every do he’s in uniform. The wideout was galloping all over the field during some situational work, catching several passes including back-to-back touchdowns as the clock was winding down.
Who’s not: Jamar Love – This one really isn’t fair considering the experience levels of the players involved, but Love had the misfortune of covering Moss throughout the afternoon as part of the scout defense. Moss likely lost count of his catches at one point because Love was powerless to stop the onslaught.
Andy Hart describes some defensive fronts used Tuesday afternoon, plus more notes and observations.
–During one point in team work on defensive the four-man front line included from left to right Ty Warren, Vince Wilfork, Myron Pryor and Richard Seymour. Pryor was lined up over the ball. While fellow rookie Ron Brace has gotten a number of reps with the returning veterans, this is a good sign for another defensive line draft pick to be rubbing elbows with the top group. Le Kevin Smith also rotated in for Warren at one point in the segment.
–During another portion of team work a different spin on the four-man front included from left to right, Derrick Burgess, Jarvis Green, Richard Seymour and Tully Banta-Cain. At trend seems to be developing with the team fielding a variety of four-man looks including some of the heavier variety and some on the lighter side with a likely eye on rushing the passer.
Christopher Price passes along a few quick hits from the afternoon session.
As was the case in the morning, much of the work throughout the afternoon session was spent on situational football, with Belichick calling out various scenarios and then having the players run the play. Much of the day was spent with the No. 1 offense working against the scout team defense, while the No. 1 defense did the same against the scout team offense.
Boston.com posted plenty of photos from Patriots Training Camp - Day 12 for those who weren't able to attend.