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Patriots Practice Observations: Hightower A Full Participant, Brady A Little Flat

WHITE SULPHER SPRINGS (CBS) -- It was a journey to get here, but it's certainly a beautiful Greenbrier Resort facility here in White Sulpher Springs, West Virginia where the Saints hold their training camp.

Here are some observations from Day One of the Pats Joint Practice with Saints:

--Drew Brees maybe said it best when asked why no fights broke out between the two teams, which seems to be the norm around the NFL these days: "It's understood."

--After early special teams work and (of course) lots of stretching, there were a bunch of mixed drill work among the two teams. One thing that stood out was Pats O-Line coach Dave DeGuglielmo shouting one-liners to his linemen as they battled the Saints D-line. Lots of simple and to the point hands-on teaching. "Goog" definitely has some catchy phrases that he uses to get his point across. By the way, it was his o-line against Rob Ryan's d-line.

- Dont'a Hightower was a full participant and out of the red no-contact jersey. That's a great sign for the linebacker and great news for the New England defense.

Donta Hightower
Patriots linebacker Donta Hightower goes through a drill during joint practices with the New Orleans Saints. (Photo by Levan Reid, WBZ-TV)

-- Tom Brady seemed a little flat out on the field today. One of the things that stood out in Richmond last year during joint practives with Washington was just how "head and shoulders" above everyone else Brady was. He came out onto the football field fired up and carved up the Redskins defense all day. Today, Brady was good but not great, and dare I say a bit sloppy at times? Maybe I just expect perfection every time he steps on the field, but you have to wonder if that little off-field issue is taking a toll on him.

Brady-At-Practice
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady on the field prior to New England's joint practices with the New Orleans Saints in West Virginia. (Photo by WBZ-TV's Levan Reid)

-- With that said, Brady still had his fair share of nice pass plays out there with Rob Gronkowski being his reliable target once again. Brady also completed a beautiful touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone to Danny Amendola. On the play, Josh Boyce looked like he ran the wrong route and nearly collided with Amendola in the corner. After the play, Brady was perhaps the most animated that he was all day, running over to head/helmet-butt Amendola with a huge smile on his face. Defensive pass interference was also called on the play by the officials on hand.

-- Jimmy Garoppolo looks like he's making progress. His throws over the middle of the field are fine, but he needs to work on his sideline and end zone corner throws.

--Drew Brees at 6-feet looks small out there at QB, but the future Hall Of Famer is an incredible talent. He does such a great job getting the ball into the right place where his receivers can catch it.

-- On one two-minute drive, Brees burned Malcolm Butler several times. There was a completion to WR Brandon Coleman, another play to Coleman where Butler was called for pass interference, a nice deep pass to WR Joseph Morgan at the 5-yard line, and then a completion for a TD to Josh Morgan. After practice, Brees said Butler was "extremely talented...a guy who plays with a lot of confidence and has a lot if ability."

Brees also said he watched film of Butler from the first preseason game last week against Green Bay. Teams are definitely studying up on Butler, which is part of him becoming a No. 1 shutdown corner in the NFL.

-- Brees also called former Patriot tight end Ben Watson an "unsung hero." He said he can do everything; a great pass catcher, pass blocker, run blocker. He even called him one of the greatest pros you'd ever want.

-- Watson was asked about the Pats being able to handle the DeflateGate story hovering over them:

"I think, if anything, they do a good job of pushing out the noise, as they call it. Weeding out the riff-raff and the distractions. That's something I can remember coach Belichick specifically preaching. When you have adversity, they do a great job of circling the wagons, getting everyone focused. I remember 2007, with the Spygate stuff, and there were all these accusations. It brought the team together. I would expect nothing different. That's a hallmark of a good team."

-- Pats safety Patrick Chung had a nice safety blitz to stop Brees on a play that would have been a sack.

-- After practice, veteran Saints offensive tackle Zach Strief said, "that's as good as a dual practice can be."

Brees said both teams got a lot out of it, and as for facing the Patriots, "Iron sharpens iron."

"We had a chance to practice against the defending world champions, and I know that that's going to get us better, and I know they have the same mentality going against us," added Brees.

-- As for the Patriots, Garoppolo seemed to like the joint practice.

"You come out here, seeing a different look is probably the biggest thing that kicks up the energy," he said. "You're going against guys you haven't gone against. I mean, you hit the same guys for two or three weeks in camp. You get sick of it, so when you get a different look is always refreshing."

-- I found out that here at the Greenbrier Resort complex is an old Congressional Bunker that was built sometime in the late 1950's-early-1960's in case of a National emergency. Still bunkered down inside it? The original coca-cola secret recipe and the KFC original recipe.

Overall, it was a good day here in West Virginia with another joint practice session set for Thursday. After that, it's on to Preseason Game No. 2 Saturday night in New Orleans a game you can see on WBZ-TV and hear on 98.5 The Sports Hub at 7:30pm.

Follow WBZ-TV's Dan Roche on Twitter @RochieWBZ.

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