Patriots Training camp Day 1: Mac Jones, Bailey Zappe get in plenty of red zone work

FOXBORO -- Football is back in New England.

The Patriots took to the practice fields abutting Gillette Stadium on Wednesday morning to officially begin training camp for the 2023 season. It wasn't football football, per se, as the session had the players wearing just helmets and shorts, but it nevertheless marked the beginning of what figures to be a fascinating season in Foxboro.

Here are the observations from Wednesday's session, which figures to be the coolest of the three practices held to start camp.

--Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe (and, sure, Trace McSorley too) drew the first big roars from the crowd when they took the field around 9:30 a.m. The next big roar came for Matthew Judon, who certainly was the most excited player to take the field. When he did so, he was sporting a bright red hoodie, which is objectively an insane sartorial choice in the middle of summer. Credit to him for committing to a look.

After telling Dan Roche over the weekend that he wants to retire as a Patriot, he spent his first moments at training camp interacting with fans in the bleachers, tossing them footballs and having some good clean fun.

--Patriots owner Robert Kraft was on the field before practice, having a friendly chat with kicker Nick Folk in front of the media setup. Fellow special teamer Joe Cardona was having a chat with some local police officers before starting his warmup. Before all of that, rookie kicker Chad Ryland was on the field before eeeevverybody, clearly eager to make a strong first impression with the team. 

--Rookie safety/linebacker/thumper Marte Mapu was wearing a red non-contact jersey. This was of course a non-contact practice, but the red jersey is worn to warn other players to take special care around players rehabbing from injuries. Mapu figures to fit right in with the in-the-box safety role that's been occupied by Adrian Phillips and Kyle Dugger in recent years, so it'll be fun to see what Jerod Mayo and Steve Belichick do with him in his rookie year.

--The practice was well-atteneded. The only absences were Mike Onwenu and Cody Davis (both on PUP list) as well as Calvin Anderson (NFI). JuJu Smith-Schuster was present after missing minicamp, and the same went for Tyquan Thornton. As Bill Belichick laid out a day earlier, cornerback Jack Jones was on the field as well, despite his pending legal issues.

--Some punting and kicking competitions were afoot. Chad Ryland and Nick Folk fill out the kicker battle, while Corliss Waitman and Bryce Baringer are punting their buns off out there. Having two punters certainly helps out when the Patriots want to practice multiple punt teams on separate fields with their 90-man roster, but short of that, we won't make any inferences on who has the upper hand (leg?) after one practice.

As for the kicker, you'd think Chad Ryland is kind of a lock, considering the team used a fourth-round pick to get him. But he did hook a few kicks wide of the left upright directly in front of the media tent, sending the most athletic people in town diving for safety. Again, no conclusions drawn, but the Patriots know what they have in the veteran Folk. Ryland will have to prove himself this summer.

--The first 7-on-7 session took place in the red zone. Each of the three quarterbacks got three throws.

Mac Jones' first pass was intercepted in the back of the end zone by Kyle Dugger. Jones' second pass, intended for Hunter Henry, was incomplete. His third pass was complete to Ty Montgomery in the left flat, and he ran into the end zone for a touchdown.

Bailey Zappe's first pass to Tre Nixon was broken up by Mack Wilson, and his second pass was lofted over Marte Mapu for a touchdown to Montgomery. His third pass went for a touchdown to Anthony Firkser.

Trace McSorley threw two incompletions and a touchdown to Johnny Lumpkin.

It was red zone, and it was non-contact, so basically every completion was a touchdown no matter what. So we'll leave out TD stats.

7-on-7 stats:
Mac Jones: 1-for-3, INT
Bailey Zappe: 2-for-3
Trace McSorley: 1-for-3

--The 11-on-11 period provided some fun, fast-paced football for the fans who braved the summer sun. Each quarterback got two runs of four plays apiece.

11-on-11 stats:
Mac Jones: 4-for-7, sack
Bailey Zappe: 3-for-8
Trace McSorley: 2-for-7, timeout, only QB to hand the ball off

--Ty Montgomery was the No. 1 target in the red zone, so look for him to score some more touchdowns like he did in Week 1 in Miami last year. Montgomery had two touchdowns in 7-on-7's (one from Mac, one from Zappe), and he caught two touchdowns in 11-on-11's (one from Zappe, one from McSorley). He was heavily involved in the offense during minicamp, and that continued during these team periods to start training camp.

--All of the full-team plays were run inside the 10-yard line. Red zone, red zone, red zone. After the Patriots ranked dead last in the NFL last year with touchdowns on just 42.2 percent of their red-zone trips, that seemed to be a pretty clear target for improvement.

--When it looked like practice was winding down, the team lined up for some more 11-on-11 work on the far end of the practice field, though this was a walkthrough. It was harder to track the stats on this one, and those stats matter a little less than the full-speed team drills anyway. Mac Jones did hit Kendrick Bourne for a touchdown on the second or third play of the session. He hit Rhamondre Stevenson in the left flat on the next play. This session was more of a walkthrough than a full-speed

--The Patriots will be back on the practice field on Thursday and Friday, with both sessions starting at 9:30 a.m. and both sessions being open to the public. They'll have Saturday off before getting back to work Sunday at 12:30 p.m., a practice that will also be open to the fans.