Following day 2 of mini-camp on Wednesday, ESPN Boston's Mike Reiss made a list of what stood out to him from the 2-hour practice. Ryan Mallett's knee brace and Darrelle Revis' absence were two of his biggest takeaways from the day. For more on yesterday's practice, Comcast Sports Net's Tom Curran and Mike Giardi recapped what they saw at Gillette Stadium.
As I mentioned before, Darrelle Revis missed a portion of Wednesday's mini-camp session and according to Shalise Manza Young and Ben Volin of the Boston Globe, the reason remains a mystery. Young and Volin noted that #24 was present at the start of practice but he did not finish the session with the team. During 11-on-11's Logan Ryan took Revis' place opposite Brandon Browner.
Though he was not at practice, last night Darrelle Revis was ranked as the 37th best player in the NFL according to the NFL Network's annual Top 100 show. Revis is the second Patriots player along with Rob Gronkowski to make the list so far this year. Next week the show will reveal players 21-30.
The Patriots appear stacked at the cornerback position, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're done adding players. According to a tweet by Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun, the Patriots are reportedly "in the mix" for free agent cornerback Brandon Flowers. Sports Illustrated's Fansided blogger, Cyrus Geller, says that this news comes to a surprise to him even though Belichick is known for exercising all possible options. Ultimately, Geller doesn't see the need to bring him in.
"Chemistry is an extremely important aspect of a football team, and while I don't necessarily know that the addition of Flowers would screw up the Pats current "harmony", I wouldn't risk it if I were running the team," writes Geller.
According to ESPN Boston's Mike Reiss, Tom Brady still has a "sixth-round chip" on his shoulder. In an interview yesterday, Brady admitted to reporters that there was a reason he was a low-round pick -- he believes he didn't have much physical ability. Brady went on to say that although the mental part of the game came easy to him, he's always had to work extra hard on the physical part.
"While the Patriots are scheduled to conclude their minicamp on Thursday, Brady's message was that the five weeks leading into training camp shouldn't be viewed as a break," says Reiss.
Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald wrote a similar article on Brady's remarks. Howe says that Brady's accuracy looks just as good as in past years and his drive to get better is unparalleled. He notes that although Brady's getting older, he doesn't act like it.
"Father Time will always remain undefeated, but Brady won't stop the good fight because of a technicality," writes Howe. "And given the way Brady has thrown the ball over the past few weeks, this isn't the time to wonder if 2014 is the year his skills will suddenly nosedive."
Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe says that Kenbrell Thompkins is being pushed by his teammates on defense. Thompkins told her that the addition of Revis and Browner are forcing him to improve his game -- it's a challenge that he's happy to have.
"Brandon Browner, he's a tremendous athlete, long arms and everything like that. It's just great competition to have those guys out there and competing for the ball," said Thompkins. "It's a great challenge for us at the wide receiver position, but it's our job to come down with [the ball]."
