Notes from Patriots Training Camp: Day 1

The New England Patriots started their 2015 training camp today at the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium. Today's practice, like the majority of camp sessions, has been open to fans as well as members of the media.

Working through the Twittersphere, here are some first observations of today's session.

Attendance

-- Wide receiver Brandon LaFell and linebacker Chris White were absent from the session.

-- The following players did not fully participate: LeGarrette Blount, Alan Branch, Dominique Easley, Dane Fletcher, Matt Flynn, Matthew Slater, Vince Taylor, Ryan Wendell. The group was working out seperately.

-- Players, just like during OTAs and minicamp, did not wear numbers or pads today.

Injuries

-- Second year linebacker James Morris was the only player to not finish the session. He appeared to have injured his right leg/calf area.

Offensive Notes

-- Via Mark Daniels, the quarterbacks shared their reps as follows:

11-on-11s:
Tom Brady: 16 of 20
Jimmy Garoppolo: 18 of 26

7-on-7s:
Tom Brady: 7 of 7
Jimmy Garoppolo: 9 of 10, 1 INT

-- Not only was Brady sharp, he also took all first-team reps. Two of Brady's incompletions were drops, while Julian Edelman and Scott Chandler were his favorite targets of the day.

-- Garoppolo's performance became better with time after having some accuracy issues early on. At times, he held the ball too long. His interception was an underthrown ball but he connected with Rob Gronkowski later on a touchdown during 11-on-11s.

-- James White worked with the first team offense, Tyler Gaffney with the second unit.

-- Josh McDaniels dialed up the trickeration today: Brady, handing it off to Brandon Bolden, who handed it off to Julian Edelman on a reverse, who then throw a touchdown pass to Brady. Brady caught the pass one-handed. Here is a video of that play.

-- Edelman in general looked good.

-- So did Gronkowski. At one point, Brady threw a fade to him for a 15-yard score. At another point, he caught a touchdown over Tavon Wilson.

-- Marcus Cannon struggled at right tackle.

-- Sebastian Vollmer appeared to be limited.

-- Brady, tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Scott Chandler as well as wide receivers Julian Edelman and Aaron Dobson held a side session.

-- Rookie guards Tre Jackson (right) and Shaq Mason (left) got extensive work with the first-team offensive line.

Defensive Notes

-- Rookie defensive back Jordan Richards had the lone interception of the day.

-- Jerod Mayo was a full participant, while Chandler Jones and Dont'a Hightower were limited.

-- Malcom Butler did well overall but got beat repeatedly by Gronkowski.

-- Zach Moore looks considerably bigger than last year.

Special Teams Notes

-- Danny Amendola, Travaris Cadet and Josh Boyce handled kick-returns.

Miscellaneous

-- Patriots owner Robert Kraft made an appearance during practice. He was met with loud applause before talking to Brady for a couple of minutes.

-- A plane sponsored by a New York Jets fan group threw over the practice fields with a banner reading "Cheaters look up!" That plane had more success than the entire Jets franchise has had in 40+ years.

-- The crowd repeatedly started "Brady! Brady!" chants during practice.