FOXBOROUGH – Prior to a sled-pushing competition to end day two of mandatory minicamp, the only reason the Patriots players were sweating was the heat. Otherwise, this was a glorified walkthrough/jogthrough, as promised by Mike Vrabel.
“It probably won’t be as much speed stuff,” he told us before the session, adding, “we will come back and get that same speed that we had yesterday further down in the red zone [Thursday].”
Thus, the observations are limited:
– Once again, heavy emphasis on the red zone, both in team and during skeleton work (skills players vs air). If anyone drops stats from this practice, you should immediately question their sanity. No passes were contested, and no pass rush was generated. Just assignment football.
– Christian Gonzalez did a little more from a participation standpoint, but with almost zero risk of collision (I suppose someone could have tripped over their own feet). I wouldn’t read anything into it.
– Kayshon Boutte was once again fully involved, though he rarely repped with the other top receivers (A.J. Brown, Romeo Doubs and Mack Hollins). In fact, Pop Douglas had more reps with some combination of that group than Boutte did.
– Kyle Williams continues to share the field with Efton Chism and Boutte. I didn’t notice him repping with the ones at any point. And speaking of, there were some radio rumblings about a potential reunion with Stefon Diggs. Vrabel didn’t slam the door shut, however …
“I am not going to give a percentage on it,” he said, “but I think we are happy with where we are at right now with the numbers and the people in the receiver room. I appreciate Stefon as a person,
