Belichick, Brady frustrated
Pair blow off steam
FOXBORO — Bill Belichick got biblical yesterday. Tom Brady needed to blow off some steam as well.
With the Patriots quarterback situation again in focus, it wasn’t hard to notice when the team’s most prominent pair of four-time Super Bowl champions unloaded some frustration.
Belichick was asked before practice if Jimmy
Garoppolo could do anything from Weeks 1-4 to unseat Brady as the starter.
“Jesus Christ,” Belichick responded with a irritated eye roll.
Brady then took out some anger on his helmet during practice. The Patriots’ first period of team drills included a pair of 7-on-7 sets. Brady was intercepted on his third throw by a leaping
Duron Harmon in the end zone, as the safety stole the ball from intended receiver Keshawn Martin.
Brady later closed the second set by firing backto-back incompletions, the latter of which doinked off a tennis racket held by an equipment manager for the second day in a row. Brady walked slowly away from the line of scrimmage, flexed his helmet over his head and slammed it into the grass.
Brady is good for one or six such outbursts during each training camp, and it’s not like he had a bad day. He followed up his pick with a touchdown to running back
James White, who beat linebacker Jamie Collins to the post. The soon-to-be 39-yearold quarterback also had nice touchdown throws to wide receiver Aaron Dobson, and he completed a missile on a deep crossing pattern to tight end Rob Gronkowski in his first throw of 11-on-11s.
The quarterbacks reversed roles from Thursday’s workout, as Brady worked with the starting offense and defense in 11-on-11s, but the backups in 7-on-7s.
Garoppolo was electric during the 7-on-7 session by completing 9-of-10 passes, and he closed the period with a couple of perfect touchdown tosses. The first was a dime through a tight window to Chris Harper, who beat cornerback Malcolm Butler to the right corner of the end zone. Next, he threw a high strike over safety Devin McCourty to a leaping Martellus Bennett.
But it was the helmet slam that had everyone talking afterward. Anytime the defense can frustrate their counterparts, they’ll take it, especially considering how frequently Brady has beaten them.
“It’s funny to me,” Collins said.
Help on the way
Wide receivers Julian Edelman (foot surgery) and
Danny Amendola (knee and ankle surgeries) look like they’re close to being activated from the physically unable to perform list. They ran uphill sprints for 5 minutes midway through practice and didn’t show any signs of limping throughout the conditioning exercise.
High life
Rookie quarterback Jacoby Brissett was praised for some overly conservative throws. He threw away a handful of passes, including during some positional drills, when his receivers couldn’t get open.
Though it happened far more often than usual, Brissett said it was a conscious effort to minimize any mistakes.
“Just practicing good habits, so in a game it will come second nature,” Brissett said. “Sometimes, that is the best play, so you’ve got to be able to take it and move on to the next play.”
Brissett forced one throw into traffic late in practice and paid the price. Cornerback Darryl Roberts deflected the pass, and linebacker
Kevin Snyder pulled down the interception on Brissett’s third-to-last throw of the day.
Brissett completed 12-of22 passes in team drills during the first two practices, and the mistakes undoubtedly will mount throughout camp before the game slows down for him.
Brady advised Brissett to stay patient.
“(Take it) one day at a time, and see how (the veterans) operate faster and try to get up to their speed,” Brissett said of Brady’s best advice.
The razor
Defensive end Rob
Ninkovich doesn’t look like a lumberjack these days. Maybe give it a week.
“It’s hot. I saw the temps, so I figured I needed to take the beard off,” Ninkovich said. “And I look a little younger now. In this business, you don’t want to look too old, right?”
Hey, the 10-year veteran turns 33 in February, and his contract expires in March. He might be onto something.