Offseason acquisition Jabrill Peppers among 3 Patriots defensive backs returning to practice on Monday

The New England Patriots took the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium on Monday to kick off their second week of training camp, and they received some reinforcements. Defensive backs Jabrill Peppers, Jonathan Jones and Myles Bryant were all present after missing the first four practices of the summer due to injury.

Peppers, 26, joined the Patriots on a one-year free agency contract in April despite having torn his ACL just five months earlier. He was a limited participant in mandatory minicamp last month and opened camp on the physically unable to perform list (PUP).

Jones, 28, hurt his shoulder during last year’s overtime loss against Dallas. He later underwent surgery to resolve the issue, but had to sit out the remainder of the regular season because of the procedure and its subsequent rehabilitation process. Like Peppers, he started camp on PUP.

Bryant, 24, began camp on the non-football injury list (NFI). A third-year man out of Washington, Bryant appeared in 13 games for the Patriots last season as a stand-in after Jones was lost for the year.

New England is holding its first session in full pads on Monday and while it remains to be seen how much of a workload the three defensive backs will get, seeing them take the practice fields in the first place is a positive. Meanwhile, several other players remained out.

Veteran quarterback Brian Hoyer remained a no-show for the third straight day, while defensive lineman Deatrich Wise Jr. was spotted but working out on his own away from the team. Running back James White remains on PUP, with offensive linemen Chasen Hines and Andrews Stueber still on NFI.