Notes from Patriots Training Camp: Day 8

After yesterday's practice inside Gillette Stadium, the New England Patriots returned to their usual practice fields for today's session. As opposed to the annual in-stadium session, today's practice was once again open to both the public and members of the media.

Working through the Twittersphere, here are some notes about today's session:

Attendance

-- The following players did not practice: Aaron Dobson, Julian Edelman, Dion Lewis, Darius Fleming, Brian Tyms, Tyler Gaffney, Marcus Cannon, Joe Vellano, Matt Flynn, Caylin Hauptman, Alan Branch, Matthew Slater, Brandon LaFell, Ryan Wendell, Dane Fletcher, Chris White and Chris Jones.

-- Dobson missed his first practice today; he is dealing with a "minor hamstring issue".

-- Two new faces were on the field today: OL Mark Asper and TE Mason Brodine.

Injuries

-- Jimmay Mundine limped off the field and into the locker room.

-- Scott Chandler iced the back of his left knee midway through the session.

Offensive Notes

-- According to Doug Kyed the quarterbacks performed as follows:

11-on-11s:
Brady: 22/29
Garoppolo: 11/15, INT

7-on-7s:
Brady: 9/12
Garoppolo: 4/5

-- Brady's last 13 passes were all completions.

-- With Edelman, Dobson and Tyms out, Brandon Gibson and Josh Boyce saw lots of reps. Gibson looked good, Boyce as well but had a drop in a team segment.

-- Danny Amendola made a great catch during 7-on-7s while being covered by three defenders.

-- Garoppolo and Josh Kline had to run a penalty lap after a botched snap.

-- Tre' Jackson and Shaq Mason had another nice session.

-- The offensive line communication still needs some work, though, as blitz pickup seemed like an issue.

-- Rob Gronkowski made a great catch over Jordan Richards, who was called for pass intereference.

-- Hurry-up offense and all the mental aspects of it were points of emphasis today.

Defensive Notes

-- Tavon Wilson and Darryl Roberts registered pass breakups.

-- Dominique Easley made a nice play in the backfield during 11-on-11s.

-- Wilson also had an interception, when he picked off Garoppolo. It looked like a miscommunication with Jake Bequette.

-- The defense and its coaches had to run two penalty laps for a substitution error.

-- Patrick Chung had a pass deflection while covering Gronkowski.

Special Teams Notes

-- Danny Amendola, James White and Chris Harper worked as the punt returners.

-- The field goal unit also had work on hurry-up situations.

Miscellaneous

-- Today marked the first of three days that NFL officials were part of the session.

-- Brandon LaFell was spotted for the first time during camp, not wearing a walk boot any more. He is still on PUP, though.