For one final time this summer, New England Patriots fans will get an opportunity to watch their team on the practice fields. And it should be a fun session, too: the Philadelphia Eagles are still in town for the second and last day of joint practices.
Here is everything you need to know about Patriots training camp practice No. 20.
Schedule
As usual, attendance and parking for Thursday’s session are free.
- 10:15 a.m. ET: Joint practice No. 2 with Eagles
- ca. 12:15 p.m. ET: Player availability (QB Drake Maye, TE Eli Raridon, OT Caleb Lomu, DT Joshua Farmer, LB K.J. Britt, CB Marcus Jones)
The schedule is tentative and subject to change. For more information, please visit our Pats Pulpit Training
Camp Guide.
Story of the day
Will the Patriots sustain their success? Wednesday’s practice was mostly a good one for the Patriots, who moved the ball well on offense and also manufactured five interceptions plus some solid pressure on the defensive side of the ball. As wide receiver Mack Hollins and defensive tackle Milton Williams explained after the session, however, none of it matters if the team cannot keep building on its performance.
Injuries to monitor
PUP/NFI: ED Harold Landry III, S Brenden Schooler
DNP (8/19): CB Christian Gonzalez, ED Xavier Holmes, OL Ben Brown
Injured (8/19): CB Channing Canada
Five players were absent from Wednesday’s practice, and it should not be expected for any one of them to suddenly be thrown into the mix on Thursday, at least in anything but a limited capacity. The biggest question mark therefore might be Channing Canada, who departed early during the first joint session.
Players to watch
WR Romeo Doubs: Wednesday was the A.J. Brown show and there is a chance that Thursday will be more of the same. That said, with the focus on the red area, the Patriots also might get their other receiving options more involved — including Doubs, who has looked good as a red zone target so far this summer.
LT Will Campbell: The second-year left tackle looked good as a run blocker but had his ups and downs against a strong Eagles pass rush, and in particular edge Jalyx Hunt. Will the second session be more of the same, or will Campbell get the upper hand over Hunt and company on Thursday?
The edge group: For a second straight joint practice, the Patriots were unable to set a consistent edge in the run game. The group led by Dre’Mont Jones, Elijah Ponder and Gabe Jacas allowed Saquon Barkley to get free and into space on too many occasions. Some improvement would be promising, but against both the Colts and the Eagles so far there has been little so far in that regard.
S John Saunders Jr: Saunders Jr. has been on a roll lately, picking off three passes in three opportunities against other teams: after one interception each in last week’s joint practice and preseason game versus the Colts, he added another one on Wednesday. If his ball-hawking continues, he could find himself slowly entering the roster conversation.
Pats Pulpit will have you covered throughout the day, so please make sure to regularly check back to patspulpit.com for all the latest news from camp. Credentialed Patriots beat writers Brian Hines (@iambrianhines), Andrew Guindon (@NestPgs) and Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) will bring you live updates from camp on their Twitter/X feeds, so please make sure to give them a follow.
