The New England Patriots held a full pads practice session on Sunday outside Gillette Stadium. After the session newly signed Logan Mankins met with the media. He said that the big contract “is yet to sink in” and he thanked the Kraft family for giving him the opportunity to stay with the team.
Prior to practice defensive line coach Pepper Johnson met with the media in place of Bill Belichick. Johnson spent a lot of time talking about Albert Haynesworth saying, “I think Albert is a great person. He’s been trying to work his way onto the field. He’s been tremendous in the classroom to date. I’m expecting a lot from him.”
He also had high praise for Vince Wilfork and Jerod Mayo as two players who will always help out regardless.
Some of the players who missed practice today were Matt Light, Albert Haynesworth, Taylor Price, Julian Edelman, Jeff Tarpinian, Zach Roth, Brandon Spikes and Mike Wright.
Dan Connolly did return to practice today, as did new father Danny Woodhead whose wife Stacia gave birth to daughter Gia early Saturday morning.
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Several others worked on their rehab including Kevin Faulk, Shaun Ellis, Brandon Tate, Ron Brace, Ras-I Dowling and James Sanders.
Rookie QB Ryan Mallett got a lot of reps again in practice leading credence to the fact he may start on Thursday in Tampa Bay. NFL MVP Tom Brady was very accurate all day long in his reps connecting with Chad Ochocinco on a pair of long completions although on one Brady may have taken a sack if it was a game situation.
Defensively the team worked more in the 3-4 today, more than they have recently. But they still used four man sets mostly in the session.
The Patriots also announced they signed free agent LB Niko Koutouvides, a former 4th round pick of the Seattle Seahawks in 2004 out of Purdue. Koutouvides has played for Seattle, Denver and Tampa Bay and it’s hoped he will add some more depth to the linebacking corps.
The Patriots announced their practice sessions for the next few days:
Monday
Practice will be held from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The Patriots Experience will be open from noon to 5 p.m.
Tuesday
Practice will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The Patriots Experience will be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Wednesday
Walkthrough will be held from 1 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.
The Patriots Experience will be open from Noon to 3 p.m.
For all the latest training camp information including updated practice times go to patriots.com/trainingcamp or call 508.549.0041.
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