Justin Coleman and Devin Lucien have strong practices against Bears
Coleman had four pass breakups, and Lucien had a pair of touchdown grabs.
Patriots’ Justin Coleman and Devin Lucien have not been without their struggles so far during the preseason and training camp.
The veteran cornerback Coleman has at times looked outmatched by opposing receivers, and the rookie receiver Lucien has at times looked lost in the Patriots offense. But in the Patriots-Bears joint practice on Monday, the two players put together strong performances.
Coleman had four pass breakups. Two of his breakups came during 1-on-1 drills and two came during team drills. One of his breakups was a near-interception of Bears quarterback Brian Hoyer.
During 11-on-11 drills, Lucien caught touchdown passes from Jacoby Brissett and Jimmy Garoppolo. He also made a fantastic catch along the sideline by fighting for a jump ball, and securing it before falling out of bounds.
Coleman is competing with rookie Cyrus Jones for the slot cornerback role on the first-team defense. Lucien, a 2016 sixth round pick, is likely competing for a spot on the Patriots’ practice squad.
Attendance
Notable absences: Jonathan Cooper, Donald Brown, Nate Ebner, D.J. Foster, Tre’ Jackson, Dion Lewis, Shea McClellin, Jabaal Sheard, Sebastian Vollmer, Bryce Williams, and Brock Vereen, who reportedly retired today.
Brock Vereen has retired. Wow. Had a good camp.
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) August 15, 2016
Limited: Julian Edelman, Keshawn Martin, and Malcolm Mitchell.
Present but not in pads: Danny Amendola.
Red non-contact jersey: Logan Ryan, and quarterbacks Tom Brady, Garoppolo, and Brissett.
Observations
- Malcolm Butler and Alshon Jeffrey were at the heart of a big fight roughly half way through practice. Butler was ejected from practice.
- Edelman caught passes from Brady, as he took his first snaps of the the day. Edelman has done that at the start of practices often during training camp.
- Edelman participated in walkthrough drills and 1-on-1 drills, but did not partake in 7-on-7’s or 11-on-11’s. He was moving very well in practice.
Julian Edelman getting work with Jimmy Garoppolo. pic.twitter.com/EgBapxmQVr
— Henry McKenna (@henrycmckenna) August 15, 2016
- Monday’s starting offensive line was as follows, from left to right: Nate Solder, Joe Thuney, David Andrews, Shaq Mason, Marcus Cannon.
- Clay Harbor is clearly giving high effort. He was running hard, and pushing the pace during position drills. He appears to be in a position battle with A.J. Derby. Coincidentally, Garoppolo found Harbor in the end zone in 7-on-7’s. A play later, Garoppolo found Derby for a touchdown.
- During 11-on-11’s with the third-team, Brissett missed an open Harbor in the corner of the end zone.
- Butler took reps at special teams.
- Rob Gronkowksi pulled up a little in 7-on-7’s, saw a trainer, and walked slowly off the back of the field. He did not return to practice.
- Bears defensive end Willie Young got penetration on two straight plays on the left side of the offensive line where Nate Solder and Joe Thuney were lined up.
- Tyler Gaffney continued to get reps on the goal line with the first, second and third-team offense
- The Patriots first-team defensive tackles have rotated constantly. Today the rotation included Alan Branch, Malcolm Brown, Vincent Valentine, Terrance Knighton, and Markus Kuhn.
- In 11-on-11’s, Brady threw to Derby, and cheered “Yeah Derb.” He targeted Derby on the next play for an incompletion.
- Patriots linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill intercepted Hoyer. Patriots safety Jordan Richards intercepted Bears quarterback Connor Shaw.
- Patriots linemen finished practice by pushing a sled the length of the field. The rest of Patriots and Bears team did conditioning on the hill at the south end of the practice fields.
11-on-11 team drills
- Brady was 7 of 14.
- Garoppolo was 9 of 12.
- Brissett was 4 of 8.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com