Patriots minicamp: Tom Brady shines in his return

FOXBORO – The Patriots quarterback depth chart looked a whole lot better on Tuesday during the first day of minicamp.

Of course, Tom Brady has that affect on the offense.

After skipping out on the first five OTA practices of the spring, Brady returned to the practice field on Tuesday. The quarterback, who also skipped OTAs last year, didn’t miss a beat in his first practice of the 2019 offseason.

Overall, Brady finished 17/23 in competitive team [...]

FOXBORO – The Patriots quarterback depth chart looked a whole lot better on Tuesday during the first day of minicamp.

Of course, Tom Brady has that affect on the offense.

After skipping out on the first five OTA practices of the spring, Brady returned to the practice field on Tuesday. The quarterback, who also skipped OTAs last year, didn’t miss a beat in his first practice of the 2019 offseason.

Overall, Brady finished 17/23 in competitive team drills. He went 12/15 in 11-on-11s and 5/8 in 7-on-7s. Brady started the day going a perfect 4-for-4 in 4-on-4 drills. So no, there won’t be any quarterback controversy this offseason – at least with the Patriots starter.

On Tuesday, it was noteworthy that rookie Jarrett Stidham was taking reps behind Brady and Brian Hoyer. This left Danny Etling as the odd man out. Stidham had a solid day going 9/13 in competitive drills. He went 5/9 in 11-on-11s and a perfect 4/4 in 7-on-7s. Hoyer meanwhile went 8/13 with an interception.

Brady, Hoyer and Stidham all participated in 4-on-4s, 7-on-7s and 11-on-11s. The three quarterbacks rotated in and out of the lineup. Etling, meanwhile, threw just one 11-on-11 session in the beginning of practice, finishing 8/9.

It also seemed noteworthy that Brady had one side session involving just N’Keal Harry, Ben Watson and James White. Harry is receiving reps with Brady in full-team drills, but had a tougher day on Tuesday as he lined up against Pro Bowler Stephon Gilmore.

Braxton Berrios and Maurice Harris were two standouts on Tuesday. Berrios had the catch of the day on a Hoyer deep ball. The second year receiver made a full extension dive in the end zone. He popped up from the ground and finished the play off with a spike. He had another touchdown grab from Hoyer later in practice.

Ja’Whaun Bentley made the defensive play of the game with an interception on Hoyer. That came after Kyle Van Noy tipped the ball at the line of scrimmage. J.C. Jackson, Duke Dawson and Keion Crossen also had pass deflections in practice.

Harris made a highlight real reception over Duron Harmon. The deep ball, from Brady, was one of multiple nice catches the new receiver made on Tuesday.

On the offensive line, Joe Thuney continues to line up at left tackle.

Absent from minicamp on Tuesday was Patrick Chung, Sony Michel, Yodny Cajuste, Nick Brossette, Demaryius Thomas and Deatrich Wise. Kyle Van Noy and Isaiah Wynn were limited.