After a productive morning spent on the running and play-action portions of the team's game plan, the Patriots turned their attention to the passing game for the evening workout.
Practiced consisted of more situational work focusing on second and third downs with a continued emphasis on Philadelphia. The team wore helmets and shoulder pads for the pass-filled affair.
And it was all defense. Even when the defensive backs were using Philadephia's packages, they were the ones getting their hands on the majority of passes. The offense opened with a spread formation with five receivers using running backs Corey Dillon and Patrick Pass out wide. After a successful play that saw Tom Brady connect with David Patten for a short gain, the defense took over.
After taking a punishment lap for not being aligned properly, the defensive domination began. Brady threw what is believed to be his first interception of camp when he tried to hit Patten deep down the right sideline. His pass was badly off line, coming down over the wrong shoulder where Ty Law easily grabbed it for the pick.
From there, things only got worse for the offense. Asante Samuel alternated between impressive pass breakups and interceptions, coming up with at least two of the later. On the second, he quickly lateraled the ball to Rodney Harrison for a would-be touchdown return.
When the units switched job descriptions with the offense running Eagles plays, things didn't change. Terrell Buckley made several nice breakups, one in particular on a crossing route from Brady to Deion Branch. As the defense continued its solid play, the members of the group became more and more vociferous, hooting after seemingly every play.
Even when the offense gave the fans a reason to cheer, there was and asterisk attached. Kliff Kingsbury tried to hook up with Chas Gessner (who was playing the role of Philly's Terrell Owens on the play) on a deep ball. Gessner was running stride-for-stride with Samuel, but as the ball came down the lanky wideout made a noticeable push before catching the ball. The coaches immediately grabbed for their imaginary flags that would surely have fallen to negate the completion.
The few successful offensive plays that were run generally came on runs. Michael Cloud hit the hole quickly on a couple of occasions and picked up some good yardage while catching the defense off guard.
Practice notes
Michael Jennings and Ricky Bryant spent some time handling punts from Josh Miller before practice. ... Rosevelt Colvin sat out the evening workout, as did Keith Traylor. ... As has become customary after the late practice, the players ran several sprints at three quarters speed to close the day. Running in three groups, they each went back and forth three times before leaving the field.
