Patriots Training Camp: Day 1
I took a short drive from my house to Gillette Stadium to watch the first Patriots training camp practice this morning. There were a couple of large cranes inside the stadium (the practice fields are behind the stadium) that were taking apart the stage from last night's Bon Jovi show. No Bon Jovi sightings at practice, though.
I'm no expert at evaluating training camp, but everything seemed to be going well. It was just basic drills and basic plays, but that's what you'd expect for a first practice. The only thing that stood out to me was that Richard Seymour was not there. Turns out he is on the physically unable to perform list. Deion Branch was not at practice either, but most Patriots fans know that he's holding out in hopes of getting a bigger contract.
Bill Belichick had the bulky grey sweatshirt on, but had it turned inside out so that the lighter colored inside was facing out.... I guess that makes the heat and humidity more tolerable when all you wear is that one sweatshirt.
At the end of the practice, Tom Brady jogged over to the fans lined up along the edge of the field and signed autographs for about 5 or 10 minutes.
Hopefully the flash slideshow of the photos I took today will be loaded and ready to go by the time you've finished reading tihs.......