September 29: the last day that the New England Patriots had perfect attendance at a practice session – until today. According to multiple media reports, the team had all of its players present for Thursday's practice session in preparation for the upcoming divisional round playoff game against the Tennessee Titans. This means that three players were back on the fields after being absent yesterday.
On offense, running back Mike Gillislee and wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell were back in action. The duo, which is dealing with knee issues has been out for the first two sessions of the week. Gillislee has missed the Patriots' regular season finale because of the injury while Mitchell is trying to come back off injured reserve after the team designated him as a returnee prior to week 17.
Also returning to practice is linebacker Marquis Flowers. The 25-year old, who registered 3.5 sacks in the final two regular games and became a productive player on New England’s defense recently, was out yesterday due to an illness. Flowers was however spotted in the Patriots’ locker room during yesterday's media-access period, so his absence might only have been precautionary.
The final injury report of the week will be released later today.