Patriots Host Saints For Day 1 Of Joint Practices
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Patriots finally get to hit someone other than their own teammates at practice.
The Patriots welcomed the New Orleans Saints to Foxboro on Tuesday for Day 1 of their joint practices, leading up to Thursday's preseason opener at Gillette Stadium.
This is the fourth time the Patriots and Saints have practiced together in the last six years, giving their players a nice change of pace from training camp and their coaches a chance to run some valuable situational practices they normally wouldn't be able to run without a second team in the mix.
Both teams have finished their drills and are hitting the field (and each other) down at Gillette. Here's what's going on down in Foxboro as practice gets underway:
Early Injury Concerns
So far, both Julian Edelman and Rob Ninkovich have walked off the field with a team doctor. Potentially terrible news for the Patriots.
Julian Edelman left the field. Slammed his helmet down and walked off slowly.. #WBZ
— Levan Reid (@LevanReid) August 9, 2016
Edelman looked great in 1 on 1 drill - but looked to injure foot/leg. Looked at on cart. Walked off field under his own power #wbz #patriots
— Dan Roche (@RochieWBZ) August 9, 2016
Ninkovich just left the field with the team doctor. He was shaking his head during the walk.
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) August 9, 2016
However, there was a bit of good news after practice ended:
Based on the initial exams, #Patriots WR Julian Edelman's injury is not believed to be serious, source said. Will keep checking.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 9, 2016
Hold on to your butts.
Sloppy Day For Patriots
#Saints rookie DT Sheldon Rankins picks off Tom Brady in 11 on 11 and returns it for a pick 6
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) August 9, 2016
And now Gronk drops a deep seam pass from Garoppolo that should've been a huge gain. #Patriots not having the sharpest day
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) August 9, 2016
Garoppolo ended a streak of seven consecutive incompletions but he was burnt by three drops. Not getting much help.
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) August 9, 2016
Pats have dropped eight -- EIGHT -- passes today. Garoppolo burnt by six of them.
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) August 9, 2016
Drops: Gronk and Hogan each had 2. Dobson, Harper, White, Bolden 1 each.
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) August 9, 2016
Patriots Show Support For Olympian Nate Ebner
The Patriots special teamer is on the rugby field for the U.S. down in Rio, and he's got plenty of support back in New England.
Nice touch by Bill Belichick to wear a @USARugby shirt at practice with Nate Ebner's name & number (12) on the back pic.twitter.com/KNW1USthIM
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) August 9, 2016
Belichick wearing a Nate Ebner T-shirt at practice. And yes I took this photo from space. pic.twitter.com/TUAyFSPEQm
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) August 9, 2016
Belichick and the #Patriots coaches are wearing Nate Ebner USA Rugby shirts at today's practice pic.twitter.com/mVks47eLd9
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) August 9, 2016
Brees Among First To Take The Field
We're used to Tom Brady being one of the first (and last) players out on the field. Today, he was joined by Saints quarterback Drew Brees:
Drew Brees one of first players on the field for joint practice - #saints #patriots @GilletteStadium #wbz
— Dan Roche (@RochieWBZ) August 9, 2016
NFL Officials Are There Too
When you have two teams going at each other, you should probably have some refs present:
Officials in Foxborough today. @Patriots & media will hear from them regarding rule changes and points of emphasis. pic.twitter.com/sPeQWdFq5v
— Bob Socci (@BobSocci) August 9, 2016
And Lots Of Fans
Big day with joint practice for #Patriots vs #Saints @GilletteStadium practice fields - #wbz pic.twitter.com/SIq28GtMxt
— Dan Roche (@RochieWBZ) August 9, 2016
Packed house for today joint practice against the Saints #WBZ pic.twitter.com/1yqiRwSSJU
— Levan Reid (@LevanReid) August 9, 2016
Drills Are Complete
Gronk in a joint practice drill - #Patriots #wbz pic.twitter.com/79gN5fecKN
— Dan Roche (@RochieWBZ) August 9, 2016
Tom Brady doing some drill work at joint practice - #Patriots #Saints #wbz pic.twitter.com/AYNXtQc8iE
— Dan Roche (@RochieWBZ) August 9, 2016
Tune in to Thursday's Patriots-Saints preseason game on 98.5 The Sports Hub and WBZ-TV -- the flagship stations of the New England Patriots! Pregame coverage begins on 98.5FM at 4:30pm, with a full postgame show following the game. WBZ-TV's pregame coverage kicks off with Patriots GameDay at 7pm, following by Patriots 5th Quarter!