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The New England Patriots and Detroit Lions returned to the practice fields today to hold their third and final session of their joint practices. Compared to the last two days, the workload was noticeably lighter with the teams holding a 45-minute walkthrough ahead of tomorrow’s preseason opener — or how MassLive’s Andrew Callahan called it, “the type of practice you’d hold if everyone was hungover.”
With that in mind, let’s find out what happened:
Attendance
Absent: CB Ken Webster (PUP), SS Nate Ebner (PUP), OT Yodny Cajuste (NFI), WR Cameron Meredith, TE Lance Kendricks
Present but did not participate: WR Julian Edelman (NFI), WR Demaryius Thomas (PUP), RB Rex Burkhead
- The absentees were the same as yesterday. All five of them did not fly to Detroit and instead remained in New England for more rehabilitation work.
- Patrick Chung again wore the red non-contact jersey he donned for most of training camp so far. It didn’t really matter, though, considering that he sat out the walkthrough anyway.
- In fact, a notable portions of starting/top level players sat out today’s walkthrough and should therefore not be expected to play tomorrow.
- Danny Etling again did not wear the red non-contact jersey that quarterbacks are usually in.
Injuries
- Nothing to report.
Practice Notes
Quarterback performance: Tom Brady N/A; Brian Hoyer N/A; Jarrett Stidham N/A; Danny Etling N/A
Starting offensive line: LT Dan Skipper, LG Joe Thuney, OC David Andrews, RG Shaq Mason, RT Marcus Cannon
- Backup quarterback Brian Hoyer was under center, which should be an indication that Tom Brady — who sat out the session and did some resistance band work on the side — will not see field for the preseason opener tomorrow. If the 42-year-old indeed gets the game off, Hoyer will likely be the starting quarterback against the Lions with fourth-round rookie Jarrett Stidham also seeing considerable snaps as the top option behind him.
- After ending yesterday’s practice on the sidelines because of an apparent hamstring injury, N’Keal Harry returned today but was among a group of offensive players — others included Brady, and running backs James White and Sony Michel — to not participate in the low-speed walkthrough. Him being present today is a good sign, however, even though the team will likely be very cautious with him.
- Among the starting defenders not taking part in the ‘action’ today were defensive lineman Michael Bennett, linebackers Dont’a Hightower, Kyle Van Noy and Jamie Collins Sr., and defensive backs Stephon Gilmore, Patrick Chung, Devin McCourty and Jason McCourty. Like Brady and company, you should not expect to see them play tomorrow.