A few joint practice sessions between the New England Patriots and the New Orleans Saints will lead to the first preseason game of the season for both teams tomorrow night at 7:30 pm et. Going to training camp today, I noticed, as everyone else was, that WR Julian Edelman’s foot injury is not forcing him to take time off and is back in the drills running up to the speed he’s normally at for training camp. Fellow WR Danny Amendola sat out of this training camp as he’s what I think nursing some of his own injuries but should be ready to go when the season starts.
Other notable takeaways from today’s practice involve Jimmy Garoppolo throwing the slick football in the rain which led to many people complaining about the interception he threw but the defender was not supposed to intercept it because the drill was only intended for the offense to purposely catch the ball towards the beginning of practice. Tight end’s Rob Gronkowski and Martellus Bennett (the guy sitting next to me kept saying Marcellus) continue to dominate the offensive drills and Saints players so far do not look forward to facing the tandem.
For the preseason game tomorrow night, expect Garoppolo to take the reins and help carry the Patriots in the first half and maybe letting Brissett, who’s had a solid training camp so far, get reps throughout the second half but we will see if Brady takes reps at the helm. The wide receiver core that consists of Aaron Dobson, Chris Harper, DeAndre Carter and Devin Lucien will get a plentiful amount of reps from my knowledge against New Orleans. Dobson, who has been floating around New England for now 4 years, is hoping to redeem himself and get the reps he needs to successfully be the wide receiver we drafted back in 2013.
On the defensive side, expect the incomers like V’Angelo Bentley, Cre’Von Leblanc and others to get reps in game 1 to hope for a roster spot as time dwindles down. Starters may get some valuable reps like vet Devin McCourty and others but the no name scrappers are who mainly get the reps to prove their worth to the coaches.
It should be an interesting preseason game that will bring a lot of attention!
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