Patriots Training Camp Day 2: Defense looks capable of living up to the hype

FOXBORO -- The Patriots were back at work on Thursday for the second day of training camp.

Once again, the team was not wearing pads, but Bill Belichick spoke prior to the session about the value of these helmets-only practices.

"Preparation for playing when real football starts. There's things we can work on, obviously, and things we can get better at. We'll see what happens when it all comes together, which it hasn't yet," Belichick said. 

With that, here are the observations.

--Once again, the 7-on-7 period took place in the deep red zone, with snaps inside the 10-yard line. Something to keep in mind when looking at the numbers is that Mac Jones went up against the first-team defense, and that first-team defense is bringing it out there. That's not to make any sort of argument for or against Mac Jones, but there is a notable drop in intensity from the first to the second unit.

That being said, Mac Jones was just 1-for-4 in his four reps, while Bailey Zappe was 3-for-4. Mac's lone completion went to DeVante Parker, who went up for a jump ball over Marcus Jones and might have had a toe out of bounds in the end zone. But with no refs, it was good on this day. Zappe completed passes to Matt Sokol, Kayshon Boutte, and Kevin Harris. 

Trace McSorley was 0-for-2 on his attempts, ending the session with a dangerous pass over the middle for Ty Montgomery.

--The 11-on-11 period that followed appeared to be a bit tapered down in intensity. It wasn't a walkthrough, but it didn't look like a high-intensity, full-speed period. It seemed to be geared more for the offense to work through some things than anything else.

As a result, Mac Jones was 7-for-8, with the lone incompletion being a drop by JuJu Smith-Schuster. Zappe was 7-for-7.

--After that, the real 11-on-11 work began, starting from the high red zone at the 20-yard line and progressively moving closer to the goal line.

Through the first run, Mac Jones went 3-for-5, ending his first session with a touchdown pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster. Before that, rookie Christian Gonzalez broke up a pass intended for Smith-Schuster in the back of the end zone. The other incompletion was more or less a coverage sack/throwaway.

Bailey Zappe went 4-for-5, completing passes to J.J. Taylor, Tre Nixon, Kevin Harris and Demario Douglas. Newcomer Jalen Hurd had a false start to begin that run.

Out of respect for you, the dear reader, I won't provide Trace McSorley's stats. In my estimation, they won't matter much.

In the second round of real 11-on-11's, Jones was 3-for-5, completing a touchdown to Smith-Schuster underneath the goalposts. That session ended, though, with Jones throwing another end zone interception to Kyle Dugger. The play called for a designed rollout to the right, and with everything covered, Jones opted to throw back against the grain, kind of to nobody except Dugger. Jones immediately dropped to the ground for some self-imposed pushups.

Zappe then went 3-for-6 with the second unit, including back-to-back incompletions to Jalen Hurd.

11-on-11 stats:

Mac Jones: 6-for-10, INT
Bailey Zappe: 7-for-11

--Matthew Judon was a limited participant again. It will be interesting to discover what's going on there. Rhamondre Stevenson and DaMarcus Mitchell were also limited.

--Ty Montgomery wasn't involved after a collision on the aforementioned dangerous pass by McSorley. It looked like Terez Hall collided with Montgomery's lower body in a sort of incidental situation, which left Montgomery a little banged up.

--The quarterbacks and receivers worked on a wet ball drill, with a staffer dunking a football in a bucket of water before simulating a shotgun snap to the quarterbacks. The quarterbacks then had to dodge and work through some jabs from an American Gladiators-style jousting stick to make a pass to a receiver, who then had to catch the wet ball while getting walloped with a tackling pad. Just one of the many things to prepare the Patriots for various elements. 

--If you're into vibes, this day was maybe a little toned down from Wednesday. That's to be expected. The juice of the first day back is gone, and a long, hot summer lies ahead.

That being said ... the defense looks like it's capable of living up to the hype. The communication, the intensity, the look and feel -- it's all there. Christian Gonzalez does not seem overmatched as an outside corner, either. We'll get the ultimate sample when the pads eventually do come on, but for now, the early returns are positive on the defensive side of the ball.

Offensively, I wouldn't read too much into the stats. As previously stated, Mac Jones is going up against that top defense, while Bailey Zappe is getting his reps against the second string. Do not discount the major difference in degree of difficulty leading to some differences in results. Overall though, the offense appears to be competent and functional. Players know what they're supposed to be doing. That is, at the very least, improvement from a year ago.