Patriots-Eagles Joint Practice Takeaways: Shorter Session Tuesday Could Mean Starters Play A Lot Thursday Night
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Patriots and the Eagles held another joint practice session in Philadelphia on Tuesday, and things ramped up quite a bit ahead of Thursday night's preseason tilt.
Both teams put in lot of work in the red zone, and they had to do it in a hurry, as Tuesday's practice was a much shorter session than the one that the two teams engaged in on Monday. That could indicate that the starters on both teams are set to get a lot of work Thursday night.
With the red area the focus on Tuesday, there are plenty of takeaways from the session. Of course, the focus in New England is on the two guys throwing the football, and by all accounts, both Cam Newton and Mac Jones had solid days on the field.
Good Day For QBs
Newton and Jones both made the most of their reps inside the 20.
Both QBs were very good today and there was more of a mixture in starting/backup personnel than yesterday.
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) August 17, 2021
Cam Newton was on fire and 13 of 15 with a drop. Mac Jones was 13 of 14 with an interception. Full pads. All red zone reps.
And it sounds like they still like each other, despite that competition to be New England's starter.
A shorter practice today for the Patriots and Eagles ends after 1 hour, 20 minutes. Mac Jones' TD pass to TE Devin Asiasi in his final red-zone drill, on play-action, had him fired up. Jones pumped his fist, pointed to Cam Newton, and the two leaped into the air in celebration.
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) August 17, 2021
Cam's Check Downs Were Not Appreciated
Philadelphia safety K'Von Wallace was not a fan of Cam Newton checking down on back to back plays. And he let the quarterback know it.
If you don't like something, maybe do something about it rather than talking smack.
Jones Bounces Back After Bad Pick
The rookie telegraphed a pass to Devin Asiasi in 7-on-7s, which was easily picked off by a Philly linebacker, but he bounced back nicely the rest of that session.
Jones bounced back to complete his final 10 passes in 7s.
— Zack Cox (@ZackCoxNESN) August 17, 2021
Strong period for Cam Newton, too. He was 11-for-12 with a Kristian Wilkerson drop. https://t.co/zU8A6M7CjR
#Patriots - #Eagles initial team drills
— Andrew Callahan (@_AndrewCallahan) August 17, 2021
- Newton 8/8, Jones 7/8, INT. Mostly tight RZ.
- Jones' INT was a bad, hopeless seam pass to Asiasi.
- Newton had 1 poor rep. An Eagles DL reached him for a would-be sack, then his pass hit a linebacker's hands, bounced to Kendrick Bourne.
Nice to hear that Jones is correcting the mistakes that he makes in these joint sessions.
Interior Talk
The Boston Herald's Andrew Callahan passed along some 1-on-1 pass rush notes, and as expected, Mike Onwenu is still "Big Mike" on the Patriots offensive line.
#Patriots - #Eagles 1-on-1 pass rush notes:
— Andrew Callahan (@_AndrewCallahan) August 17, 2021
- Mike Onwenu won both his reps handily.
- Josh Uche won with power and speed against Eagles interior OL.
- Trent Brown vs. Brandon Graham was a close win for Brown.
It's also nice to hear that Uche is playing well against his Philadelphia counterparts. The linebacker is primed for a big jump in Year 2, and should be in line for a lengthy appearance Thursday night.
Notable Absences
There were a handful for the Patriots players missing on Tuesday, as the team grows thinner and thinner at tight end by every day.
Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith were both present but did not practice. Matt LaCosse was also out after getting his bell rung on Monday. Now we can add Troy Fumagalli to the injured list, as he didn't participate on Tuesday. That left New England with just Devin Asiasi and fullback Jakob Johnson at tight end.
Also absent on Tuesday: DE Myles Bryant, DT Lawrence Guy, LB Anfernee Jennings, CB Jonathan Jones and WR Tre Nixon, per Evan Lazar of CLNS Media.
Tune in to Thursday's Patriots-Eagles preseason game on WBZ-TV and streaming on CBSBoston.com (Boston area only). Pregame coverage begins at 7 p.m. with Patriots GameDay, kickoff is set for shortly after 7:30 p.m., and stay tuned for full postgame coverage after the game on Patriots 5th Quarter!