MY TAKE ON PATRIOTS' JOINT PRACTICE WITH EAGLES ON TUESDAY

As are most preseason joint practices, yesterday's practice with the Eagles was open to the public.  According to the Patriots there was a record breaking number of fans in attendance.  Well, you can count me as one of the 25,317 fans who attended camp on Tuesday.  Although I was relatively confined to about 4 square feet of area and a sightline which varied depending on the height and movement of the fans in front of me, I still managed to take some notes on what I saw.

Before practice officially started there were a couple of rookies who were practicing fielding punts.  As all diehard fans know, the way to stay on any Belichick coached team is to be able to play many positions.  And when it come to playing offense, you better be able to hold onto the ball.  Getting the most reps before practice was cornerback Malcolm Butler.  While Butler has been turning some heads on the defensive side of the ball, the ability to play on special teams will likely be the deciding factor when it comes to getting a roster spot. 

Running back James White was the other rookie getting in some special teams practice on Tuesday.  White has also been turning a lot of heads this summer.  With Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen both in contract years, White is in the perfect position to become a force.  Originally pegged to be a third down back, he is showing that he has the skills to play every down.  Overall he is the most well-rounded of the group.  It is worth noting that he split time in high school with Giovani Bernard (695 yards and 5 touchdowns last year for Bengals) and spent most of his college seasons splitting time with Montee Ball (559 yards and 4 touchdowns last year for the Broncos).  Throughout practice White was getting the majority of reps at running back with the first team. 

Julian Edelman getting work in during joint practice with the Eagles.

The wide receivers who made the most plays on the day in my opinion were Brandon LaFell, Julian Edelman, Kenbrell Thompkins and Danny Amendola.

When it came to quarterbacks, as usual Tom Brady looked great regardless of the drill.  While he didn't go deep very often, he did make some quality passes during 7 on 7 drills.  Making his first appearance at practice this week, Ryan Mallett didn't look so great.  This is unfortunate as I am still hoping we can make a trade with the Texans for TE Ryan Griffin.  After his play last week, that seems like a bit of a pipe-dream now.  Hopefully something happens with Mallett before the roster gets to 53 because we need the roster spot and already have a suitable backup in Jimmy Garoppolo.  If nothing happens on the Mallett front before final roster cuts, I wouldn't be surprised to see him out of a job.  Although Garoppolo supposedly wasn't having very good practices last week, he looked pretty good to me on Tuesday. 

Eagles sign for Patriots fans in Foxboro.

While there was plenty of excitement regarding the activity on the field, there was plenty off the field as well. 

• After catching a Stephen Gostkowski field goal, a young fan juked in and out of the other fans before finally giving the ball back to security.
• At the end of the joint activities most of the Patriots were doing some cardio on the hill in the far corner (running hills, doing planks and lifting what looked like PVC pipe) while a few players were fielding punts on the main field.
• While the entire Patriots organization was participating in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, most of the Eagles players made their way to the fans to sign autographs.

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