New England Patriots

James White and Tyler Gaffney get opportunities with running-back injuries

The Patriots are depleted by injuries at their skill positions. Michael Dwyer/AP

By Henry McKenna

2 minutes to read

Tyler Gaffney and James White have both gotten increased opportunities with the Patriots first-team since Donald Brown, D.J. Foster, and Brandon Bolden were absent Thursday.

White, who is not known as a between-the-tackles runner, looked elusive during a interior 7-on-7 drills, which match up a quarterback, running back, and five offensive linemen against the front-seven of the defense. Gaffney helped Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo warm up by catching passes early in practice.

Attendance

  • Keshawn Martin and Donald Brown were absent for a second-straight day. Malcolm Mitchell, Brandon Bolden, Jonathan Cooper, Bryan Stork, and Danny Amendola were not at practice.
  • Nate Washington, Chris Hogan, Julian Edelman, and D.J. Foster were on the field briefly before leaving. Jonathan Freeny was on the field but did not practice.
  • Still, no sign at all of Dion Lewis.
  • On Saturday, Stork reportedly suffered a concussion, his fourth in the last four years.

Observations

  • Ted Karras played at right guard with the first-team. Shaq Mason played second-team right guard, and Josh Kline, who got first-team reps at right guard Wednesday, saw work as a second-team center.
  • Rookie cornerback Cyrus Jones muffed another punt in 11-on-11 special teams work. He has muffed a number of punts over the course of training camp. After practice, he stuck around to catch punts with one hand.

  • While the defensive line practiced stunts against the starting offensive linemen, Jabaal Sheard appeared to struggle significantly, and got knocked to the ground at least three times. Terrance Knighton, on the other hand, was consistently beating his men.
  • Rookie linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill forced a fumble during the Oklahoma drill.
  • LeGarrette Blount scampered through the line in an interior 7-on-7 drill that matches the offensive line and a running back against the defensive front-seven. The 29-year-old back has looked nimble so far in camp.
  • White showed good patience running between the tackles in interior 7-on-7 drills. He waited for a hole, and burst through it. With the Patiorts, he typically has been productive as a pass-catching back.
  • Defensive tackles Alan Branch, Markus Kuhn, and Vincent Valentine showed explosive upper body strength by chucking the blocking sleds aside during a drill.
  • In the Oklahoma drill, Knighton shed his blocker and took down Gaffney with one arm.
  • Josh Kline, David Andrews each had a really good blocking set in the Oklahoma drill.
  • During 11-on-11 team drills, the Patriots made platoon subs on the defensive line, rotating every player at once.
  • Vinnie Sunseri put DeAndre Carter on his butt during team drills. Carter failed to catch a ball over the middle, and Sunseri laid him out. Sunseri may have even let up a bit. While Carter and Chris Haper have stood out in training camp, their productivity will be worth monitoring as play gets more physical in practices and preseason games.

11-on-11:

Brady: 6 of 10 with an interception.

Garoppolo: 10 of 10.

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