Notes and Highlights from Day 4 of New England Patriots Training Camp

The New England Patriots have finished their fourth day of training camp. They have their tilt against the Packers on August 13th, so any preparation will be with the season in mind.

Injuries and Activity

- Wide receiver Julian Edelman went to the turf with an ankle/foot injury. Some speculate it could just be cramps due to the weather, but this will be important to monitor.

- Defensive tackle Alan Branch is still unavailable due to conditioning.

- Defensive tackle Joe Vellano walked off the field with a trainer.

- Running back Tyler Gaffney, who was on the receiving end of a monster tackle by Sealver Siliga, was unavailable for practice.

- While Brandon LaFell might not lose his roster spot over his absence, players like Chris White, Ryan Wendell, Chris Jones, and Alan Branch are in jeopardy of losing out to players that have been available.

- After cutting DBs Justin Green and Derek Cox, and LB D.J. Lynch, the Patriots did not appear to have immediate replacements on the field.

Gaffney, Hughes, Flynn, LaFell, D Fletcher, C White, Wendell, Taylor, Hauptmann, Derby, Chr Jones, Branch not practicing for #Patriots.

— Doug Kyed (@DougKyedNESN) August 2, 2015

Offensive Notes

- Wide receiver Aaron Dobson continues to turn heads and he's put together an extremely impressive training camp with LaFell on the sidelines. Dobson had the highlight of the day as he grabbed a pass over Malcolm Butler on the sidelines.

- Edelman also made a play in front of Butler and ended up taunting the defender by spinning the ball on the ground. Butler and Edelman have been squaring off every day at camp.

- Running back LeGarrette Blount is looking quick and strong. Perhaps his failure to pass the conditioning test was more about the heat.

- Center Bryan Stork showed his value with a few great blocks in one-on-ones and he's definitely prepared to make a leap in his second season.

- Wide receiver Danny Amendola is also having a great camp and he'll likely continue as the team's primary kick returner. He seems to need the touches to get into an offensive groove, and with Edelman, LaFell, Rob Gronkowski, and Scott Chandler on the roster, Amendola will need to fight to get the ball in his hands.

Defensive Notes

- Linebacker Jamie Collins was in tight coverage of the tight ends and had himself a nice breakup on a potential Scott Chandler touchdown.

- Cornerback Tarell Brown, who moonlighted with the special teams unit returning kicks, made a good impression with multiple pass break-ups.

- Don't worry about the plays by Edelman and Dobson, Butler is definitely the top cornerback on the Patriots depth chart and he continued his strong camp with some more strong play. He's hypercompetitive.

- Defensive tackle Malcom Brown is continuing his development and he's working on his ability to eat space in the middle of the field. Perhaps that will show some of his projected utility in games.

- Linebacker Eric Martin continues to make positive plays in camp and is climbing the depth chart as a potential player behind Jerod Mayo, Dont'a Hightower, and Jamie Collins.

- Defensive end Jabaal Sheard has been winning his share of 1-on-1s and playing well in the 11v11s. The Patriots look to have themselves a good player in their free agent pick-up.

- With Alan Branch on the sideline, defensive tackle Antonio Johnson has had his time with the first team unit and the offseason award winner has been taking advantage of his opportunities. Don't be shocked if he's still around during final cuts.

Miscellaneous

- The offense came out fired up and Tom Brady spent a fair amount of his time taunting the opposing defense. Whenever the offense made a great play, Brady would hoot and holler and make sure the defense was in a mindset to never let Brady do that again.

- Long snapper Joe Cardona was the first player on the field.

- While 7th round pick Darryl Roberts shows a lot of potential, there's some sense that the final cornerback spot is between Roberts and free agent signing Robert McClain. McClain has had a very good camp, too.