5 Takeaways From Patriots Training Camp - July 30, 2016
Joe Calabro, GoLocalProv Sports Team
5 Takeaways From Patriots Training Camp - July 30, 2016
"Training camp started today, yesterday and the day before were preliminaries all about seeing who came back in good condition, who knows the playbook but real football doesn't start till you put a helmet on with the shoulder pads," said defensive tackle Terrance Knighton.
The Patriots practice featured an angry Tom Brady for the second day in a row, an injury to Jonathan Cooper and both Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo taking first team reps.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAll of this took place in front of 21,000 fans.
See the Slideshow Below for more on Patriots Training Camp Day 3.
5 Takeaways From Patriots Training Camp - July 30, 2016
Standing Room Only
More than 21,000 people attended Patriots practice on Saturday morning. In fact there were so many that Gillette Stadium opened up the ramps for people to watch from and all three ramps were full. Fans chanted for Brady and oohed and ahhed at every offensive play.
The Patriots had about 7,000 attend thier Friday practice, the threat of rain scared a few off, and just over 12,000 attend the first practice of the season on Thursday.
In other words, 21,000 is a pretty absurd number.
Cooper Goes Down
Newcomer Jonathan Cooper, a guard, went down and had to be carted off the field about an hour into practice.
According to the NFL Network, Cooper is fighting plantar fascia.
Cooper came to the Patriots from Arizona as part of the Chandler Jones trade.
Aaron Dobson
Aaron Dobson is in a battle for a roster spot at the receiver position and so far has looked good in practice.
On Saturday, he made an iimpressive catch and was congratulated by Brady, Slater and others on the play. He also worked with Brady, Garoppolo, Gronkowski and Bennett during a side session.
Dobson was a second round pick of the Patriots and 2013 but a combination of injuries and dropped passes have held him back to this point.
Will this be the year that his summer performance carries over to the season?
Brady not Thrilled Day 2
For the second straight practice, Tom Brady showed off his anger.
During a 7 on 7 hurry up drill against ball boys with paddles, Brady had one of his passes deflected for the second straight day. Brady proceeded to scream a few f-bombs before moving on with the drill.
On Friday, after a ball was deflected, Brady slammed his helmet to the ground causing all of the padding to come out of it.
On the day, Brady was 4 of 4 in 11 vs 11 and 21 of 24 overall.
Jimmy Garoppolo
Jimmy Garoppolo and Tom Brady split first team reps on Thursday, after Garoppolo took every first team rep in the Patriots Thursday practice.
In 11 vs 11, Garoppolo went 2 of 3 and 13 of 20 overall.
During a portion of the practice in which the Patriots were running kick off drills, Garoppolo & Brady were on the other feild working with Gronkowski, Bennett and Aaron Dobson. Julian Edelman, who did not practice (PUP) was watching the drill closely.
