Just a few quick notes on today's AM practice:
- The story of the day was Wes Welker's return. While he didn't participate in any team or contact drills, Welker did participate in individual drills, consistently making hard cuts which is a good sign. When he arrived, he received a big ovation from the crowd.
- The Patriots were a little thin along the defensive line, with both Ty Warren and Mike Wright out of action. This meant more reps for the likes of rookies Kade Weston and Brandon Deaderick, as well as second year man Myron Pryor.
- On the defensive side of the ball, there was a lot of work done on sub-packages. Jermaine Cunningham, who has been looked solid in coverage thus far, put his hand down on the ground and rushed the passer from a three-point stance in some of the sub-packages. Although it's still early, it looks like Cunningham could very well become a three down player for the Patriots. Cunningham also had a nice hit on a short pass completion to Aaron Hernandez. Brandon McGowan saw a lot of reps in the aforementioned sub-packages.
- Ryan Wendell took most of the snaps with the first team at left guard today with Nick Kazcur out of action. Dan Connolly had been seeing most of the snaps there.
Check back for more later tonight! For more on today morning practice, check out full reports here, here, and here.