FOXBORO -- The Patriots held their first day of mandatory minicamp on Tuesday. While coach Bill Belichick described the three days of practice this week as a continuation of OTAs, there was a noticeable up-tick in intensity compared to the OTA sessions that had been open to reporters.
Here are some of our observations from what happened on the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium:
* Tight end Scott Chandler had another strong day of work, showing good early chemistry with Tom Brady. He had one of the more impressive catches of the day when Brady floated him a pass into the corner of the end zone despite tight coverage from Devin McCourty. Chandler used his 6-foot-7 frame to reach up and over McCourty, catch the ball, and get both feet in bounds for the score. Brady reacted with a prolonged fist-pump.
* Though the day started well for Chandler, he was shut down for the last few practice periods as he appeared to tweak something in his side. He stretched to try to get loose, but remained on the sidelines for the rest of the afternoon.
* Patriots receiver Josh Boyce also looked a bit hobbled after diving for a Brady pass deep down the sideline that fell incomplete during a 7-on-7 portion of practice.
* Linebackers Jerod Mayo, Dont'a Hightower and Jamie Collins all seemed to be missing from Tuesday's session. Defensive linemen Sealver Siliga, Chandler Jones and Chris Jones were missing as well, as were offensive linemen Sebastian Vollmer and Ryan Wendell. Linebacker Dane Fletcher and receivers Matthew Slater and Brandon LaFell were also not present.
* Defensive lineman Alan Branch was back on the field after missing OTAs, and he drew a crowd of reporters after the session.
New England Patriots
* After a long series of agility drills and half-speed periods to focus on fundamentals, the Patriots spent several periods going up-tempo with loud music pumped in. The team ran five different 11-on-11 hurry-up or two-minute drill periods and one 7-on-7 hurry-up period amid the din. The music choice was varied on Tuesday with songs by Nelly, U2, AC/DC, Rush and Pearl Jam blaring.
* Both Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo were very accurate in the 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 periods. Over the course of the afternoon, Brady went 24-for-33 in 11-on-11 work while Garoppolo went 26-for-32. In 7-on-7s, both quarterbacks were 5-for-6.
* The noise got to Garoppolo and his group at one point as he tried to get his receivers in order. It appeared as though Brandon Gibson was not set before the ball was snapped and the coaching staff blew the play dead before a throw was made.
* Quarterback Matt Flynn had a tough start to the practice when he slipped, fell and fumbled a snap, resulting in a lap. Flynn did not get the same number of 7-on-7 or 11-on-11 reps that either Brady or Garoppolo received, which came as no surprise since he's getting adjusted to a new offense. During one particular period, Flynn stood off to the side with coaching assistant Jerry Schuplinski and appeared to go over some notes.
* Flynn was given one 11-on-11 period to run the offense, and he went 5-for-9, including a nice completion to Brian Tyms on a pass floated to the back corner of the end zone.
* Interesting to watch the running back work progress from OTAs to minicamp, with drills building on themselves and becoming more complex with each session. During OTAs, we watched backs work on running option routes out of the backfield, using subtle head fakes to get open. On Tuesday, a similar drill was run, only instead of automatically coming out of the backfield and expecting a pass, the backs read offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels (once again serving as a middle linebacker), and either attacked him with a route, blocked him if he rushed, or blocked an edge defender if McDaniels rotated over. After laying some foundation building blocks early, we can expect certain practice periods to get more and more complicated as the spring and summer wear on.
* What appeared to be the entire Patriots scouting staff was present at today's session. While its helpful to have as many sets of eyes as possible on the action, the scouts were also integrated into drills in some cases. Belichick has long subscribed to the theory that the club's staff should have a well-balanced skill set, with director of player personnel Nick Caserio perhaps being the prime example since he has held vital positions on both the coaching side (he was receivers coach in 2007) and the personnel side of things. Tuesday was an opportunity for the scouts to work with the players they may have helped the team acquire.
* Danny Amendola made a handful of spectacular leaping catches on the afternoon. Running back Dion Lewis also made a nice grab on perfectly-placed fade to the back corner of the end zone from Brady.
* Second-year running back Tyler Gaffney received plenty of snaps with Garoppolo's unit during 11-on-11 portions. He took a few handoffs and caught four of Garoppolo's first five completions on the day.
* Malcolm Butler saw a lot of work on Julian Edelman throughout the period, with the two going at each other full speed.
* While the punt team worked in between offensively and defensively-focused periords, Brady pulled Gronkowski, Chandler, James Develin and Michael Hoomanawanui aside for some extra red-zone work.
* At one point during 11-on-11 work, Garoppolo was matched with Edelman and Rob Gronkowski, whereas Brady worked on the adjacent field with Amendola and Chandler. Brady appeared to get the more experienced offensive lineman in front of him and more of the top defensive players to work against.
* Rob Ninkovich got his hands on one Brady pass to knock it down at the line of scrimmage during a goal-line period. When Ninkovich, a 10-year veteran and the senior member of the Patriots defense, came off the field sporting more of a five o'clock shadow than the gnarly beard he's had the last couple of years, he joked that he was trying to look a little younger.
* The team worked on their two-minute drill late in the practice, finishing with hurried field-goal attempts that forced snapped Joe Cardona, holder Ryan Allen and kicker Stephen Gostkowski to get prepared to run their operation quickly.