Patriots Camp: Day 4 Notes

The New England Patriots had a rainy day four of training camp giving a few players some trouble handling the ball. That didn’t hold some players back from having fun in the rain though.

By: Jeremy Dawson | Sunday Jul 31, 2016

The weather at the New England Patriots training camp has been vacillating so far but has yet to prevent the Patriots from missing a minute of practice.

On Sunday morning a light rain was steady throughout the morning but turned into a downpour during 11-on-11 drills.

The rain is likely the cause for two fumbled snaps during the practice. First, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and center Kyler Kerbyson mishandled a snap in the 11-on-11’s. Then, rookie quarterback Jacoby Brissett and possibly the starting center, David Andrews, mishandled a snap. The four players were forced to run a lap following their fumbles.

Not everyone had an issue with the rain however. Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski told media, “You get rain games so it’s cool to practice in the rain whenever you get the chance, make sure you work on your technique, learn how to catch the ball in the rain, tucking it in, making sure it doesn’t get knocked out.”

Gronkowski appeared to have the most fun on the day as well. He caught plenty of passes including a great touchdown catch over the back of safety Patrick Chung. He followed it up shortly after with another touchdown and a huge celebration. This started getting the rest of the tight ends into the practice. Martellus Bennett caught a touchdown from Jimmy Garoppolo, threw the ball in the air in celebration, and Gronkowski ran over to celebrate with Bennett. A few plays later tight end Bryce Williams caught a touchdown from Garoppolo and Gronkowski was accompanied by all of the tight ends to celebrate with Williams in the end zone.

The Patriots’ wide receivers haven’t had as much fun in camp. They have been without Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola since the start of camp, lost Nate Washington after the first day of camp, were without Keshawn Martin for the first time and today Chris Hogan injured his right shoulder and sat out for the remainder of camp.

One wide receiver who is certainly an under-the-radar name is DeAndre Carter. Carter has bounced around NFL practice squads over the last year and is hoping to find a spot on the New England Patriots. He may have a tough time finding his place in a very crowded receiver group, but he is certainly working as hard as anyone to prove his worth.

Camp Notes:

  • Rookie receiver Malcolm Mitchell, who struggled the first few days, was the best wide receiver in camp on Sunday. Mitchell caught five passes including multiple difficult receptions.
  • As Dion Lewis continues to fight his way back from injury, Donald Brown appears to be pushing hard for the No. 1 running back spot over LeGarrette Blount.
  • Rookie defensive tackle Vincent Valentine returned to training camp after missing a day for the funeral of his former college teammate Sam Foltz. Valentine was the last player to leave the practice after doing extra work in the far corner of the practice field.
  • Defensive back Brock Vereen intercepted a Jimmy Garoppolo pass, which was the cap on a great day from a player who is making a hard push for the roster early in camp.
  • Rookie QB Jacoby Brissett had a much improved day in comparison to the day before. The majority of his incompletions came from dropped passes.
  • Offensive guard Jonathan Cooper, center Bryan Stork and wide receiver KeShawn Martin missed their first practice.

Kevin Faulk will be inducted into the New England Patriots Hall of Fame Monday, August 1st 5 P.M. EST.

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