FOXBOROUGH — Cam Newton returned to Patriots practice on Thursday morning, as did the status quo.
Though Bill Belichick wasn’t ready to announce a Week 1 starter ahead of the team’s second joint practice with the Giants, Newton was the first quarterback in both 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 periods against New York’s starting defense.
Here are 11 takeaways from the final practice with New York:
1. Cam returns
After a five-day quarantine due to misunderstanding COVID-19 protocols, Newton jogged onto the practice field as if he’d never left. The veteran danced through stretching and took first-team reps ahead of Mac Jones.
Newton was 2-for-3 for a pair of touchdowns in a red zone 7-on-7 drill, and then took the reins in 11-on-11s against the Giants starters.
His lone series was a mixed bag, but it ended in the end zone.
Newton went 4-for-7 on the drive, finding Jakobi Meyers and Kendrick Bourne twice before Damien Harris punctuated it with a touchdown run. But Newton also had a would-be interception to James Bradberry that Kristian Wilkerson needed to knock out of the cornerback’s hands, and another pass was batted down at the line of scrimmage. There are times that he’s still holding the football too long.
2. Mac isn’t as sharp
After dicing through the Giants defense on Wednesday, Jones wasn’t as crisp when it was his turn with the starting offense in 11-on-11s.
Faced with a two-minute situation, Jones’ second pass of the period was intercepted by Logan Ryan, who would have returned it for six if the play hadn’t been blown dead. The officials ruled the Giants offsides after the play, but before practice Joe Judge explained that the refs would be throwing flags whether there was a foul or not because the two teams wanted to work on situational football. Either way, it was a bad decision.
“(The safeties) were just messing around a little bit more and trying to show different looks,” Jones said. “They did a good job, better today. It was fun.”
Jones rebounded nicely later in the practice — more on that in a second — but this wasn’t on par with Wednesday’s 30-for-36 dismantling of the Giants defense.
3. Most WRs struggle
From there in the two-minute drill, Jones’ receivers hung him out to dry.
He wound up going 10-for-19 on the drive — uncharacteristically long for a two-minute drill, isn’t it? — but was plagued by drops. Nelson Agholor couldn’t haul in a ball on the left sideline, Jonnu Smith dropped a crosser, Damien Harris let a pass clang off his hands, but the most costly of the period came from Gunner Olszewski.
On a deep ball down the left sideline, Jones dropped a ball into the bucket, but Olszewski couldn’t reel it in and the play went for an incompletion. It would have been a drive-changing — and perhaps even practice-changing — catch.
4. Bourne looks good though
The marathon drive ended on a high note, as Kendrick Bourne shook open in the back of the end zone and made a fantastic toe-tapping catch right in front of the end line. Jones fired a bullet high that Giants defenders seemed to think was going out of bounds, but it was placed perfectly where only Bourne could snatch it. That touchdown and the deep ball to Olszewski were the best two passes either quarterback threw on Thursday.
As for Bourne, he was also sharp on Newton’s drive; it was one of his strongest days of the summer.
5. Uche brings it
Josh Uche was without question the Patriots best defender on Thursday morning.
The edge rusher racked up three sacks, drew a hold, and consistently wrecked New York’s drives — and he let the Giants hear it, too. Uche’s speed is going to be a major problem for offensive linemen this fall.
“(Uche) plays with a lot of passion and as he keeps putting himself one step further each and every day the better off he’ll be,” Kyle Van Noy said.
6. Mac still the better Jones
Whatever the Giants see in Daniel Jones wasn’t evident again on Thursday morning.
On one particularly egregious play, the Giants quarterback held the ball long enough for a would-be sack from Kyle Van Noy, then decided to heave a ball up anyway. It landed softly in the arms of Devin McCourty for an easy interception. It was the second day in a row Jones had thrown a pick that a media member could have hauled in.
7. Quinn makes his kicks
Thursday was Quinn Nordin’s day to take the live reps and the kicker nailed them both. They were only extra-point distance, but it was encouraging to see the undrafted rookie make both of them against a live rush.
8. New role for Rhamondre?
Rookie running back Rhamondre Stevenson was back deep for kickoffs at one point during the joint session. With Sony Michel living on West Coast time now, Stevenson is a lock for a roster spot and would be an intriguing option in the return game.
9. Andrews, Jones leave
David Andrews and Jonathan Jones both left practice early.
The center departed midway through Jones’ half-hour two-minute drill, while Jones walked gingerly to the medical area near the end of practice. Any serious injury would be a significant blow to an already thin cornerback group.
10. Next up?
Now the Patriots go dark on the practice field.
Thursday’s joint practice was the final session that will be open to the media this summer, so from here on out, everything will be happening behind closed doors.
Related content:
Bill Belichick has no timetable for naming a starter as New England training camp closes
Rhamondre Stevenson, J.J. Taylor made Sony Michel expendable
Mac Jones now leading New England Patriots’ starting QB competition? ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky thinks so
