Mike Reiss offers his observations from Saturday's walkthrough practice.
Ellis, Edelman, Tate, Sanders return. Defensive lineman Shaun Ellis, who had been on the active/physically unable to perform list since signing with the team on Aug. 7, was in uniform and a helmet for the walkthrough, but like Haynesworth, spent most of the time watching his teammates. Unlike Haynesworth, though, Ellis did take part in the end-of-practice stretching and jogging.
Meanwhile, wide receivers Brandon Tate and Julian Edelman both returned to practice; Tate had not been in uniform since Aug. 4, while Edelman had been out since Aug. 13. Both took part in special teams drills as returners, which made up the bulk of the hour-long walkthrough. Safety James Sanders, who had practiced only three times in camp, was in uniform and also took part in the special teams drills.
Shalise Manza Young tells us what happened as New England held its final public practice of the season.
At the close of the session, strength & conditioning coach Harold Nash led all of the players through a stretching and sprinting session (he timed the sprints), but Haynesworth was the only player in a jersey not to participate. Instead, he stood on a sideline speaking to Robert Kraft and Berj Najarian, Bill Belichick's assistant. Newest signees James Ihedigbo (wearing No. 43) and Ricky Brown (No. 47) were on the field.
Ian Rapoport reports on Belichick's final training camp practice.
For an uneventful walk-though, this one was fairly eventful. First was this: Albert Haynesworth was on the field. He didn’t wear a helmet like everyone else, but at least he was here. Oh, and he looked skinny for a big guy. So that’s something. When the team ran sprints, he stood and talked to Bill Belichick while everyone else ran. He did spend a lot of time stretching out his right shoulder, as if he was coming in from the bullpen.
Christopher Price says that in offensive line work, rookie left tackle Nate Solder got some work at right guard.
After practice, Belichick was asked about Solder at a different spot. “We’re going to look at players at a lot of different positions, like we always do so we have depth on our roster,” he said. “We only take seven linemen to a game; you’ve got to double up.”
Erik Scalavino reports James Ihedigbo is excited to join the Patriots, and shares his notes from Saturday's walkthrough.
"He's played safety for the Jets and some nickel and dime with responsibilities on defense and he's been good in the kicking game. We'll see what he can do," head coach Bill Belichick said of Ihedigbo after Saturday's hour-long walkthrough session.
Paul Perillo says the Pats wrapped up their walkthrough within seconds of a deluge that soaked players and fans.
There was some bad news on the injury front as there were several additions to the list. Stevan Ridley, Leigh Bodden, Bret Lockett, Darius Butler, Danny Woodhead and Dane Fletcher were not present. They joined a lengthy list of players who’ve been absent for several days including Taylor Price, Ras-I Dowling, Shane Vereen, Josh Barrett, Kevin Faulk, Malcolm Williams, Eric Kettani, Jeff Tarpinian, Brandon Spikes, Marcus Cannon, Brandon Deaderick, Jermaine Cunningham, Ron Brace and Mike Wright. Dowling, Faulk, Deaderick, Haynesworth and Brace were among those seen without their helmets.
Bill Belichick: Post-practice interview transcript.
Patriots Today - Final training camp session. (1.09 min. video)
Locker Room Uncut - Thoughts from Ihedigbo, others. (2.05 min. video)