Patriots Minicamp Recap: New tight end duo continues to pace offense
After wrapping up organized team activities on Friday, the New England Patriots were back at Gillette Stadium on Monday for the beginning on their three-day mandatory minicamp.
Here’s what went down during the session.
Attendance
Absent: RB James Robinson, WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR Tyquan Thornton, DB Quandre Mosely, DB Tae Hayes, WR Kayshon Boutte, OL Mike Onwenu, OT Trent Brown, DL Lawerence Guy Sr.
Limited: DB Cody Davis
Red non-contact jersey: LB Marte Mapu, OL Atonio Mafi
Takeaways
Two tight end show: As we saw throughout OTAs, the duo of Mike Gesicki and Hunter Henry continues to share the field together. They also see plenty of targets from starting quarterback Mac Jones in the process. During one 11-on-11 period that consisted of seven plays, the duo saw four targets and hauled in three of them. It’s a setting where a player like Gesicki should thrive, but the connection between him and Jones is off to a strong start.
Montgomery involved: With a handful of receivers still absent, Ty Montgomery continues to see plenty of work at a handful of positions. He saw several targets today operating out of the slot, even repping in place of Kendrick Bourne at one point after Bourne was sent on a lap for a false start. If healthy, he looks like a potentially large part of this year’s offense.
Up-and-down offensive performance: It was a strong start to the day for Mac Jones, who found his tight ends on two consecutive throws in a competitive 7s period. Later in 11s, Jones had answers against a dialed up pass rush, hitting DeVante Parker and then Kendrick Bourne, the latter going for a touchdown. However, that same period started with what appeared to be two sacks, a false start, and pass breakup (Deatrich Wise Jr.).
Versatile secondary: For the first time this offseason, New England had their whole secondary available to them, and they certainly used all of it. Rookie Christian Gonzalez was again first up along the outside, but several players rotated in opposite/behind him. That included the trio of Joneses being used in the slot and along the boundary, while the usual suspects at safety were patrolling the backend. One look even included Gonzalez, Jack Jones, and Jonathan Jones all on the field together.
Other notes:
Source: Pats Pulpit
