FOXBORO -- Bill Belichick said he wanted to slow things down Thursday and that's exactly what the Patriots did. Perhaps because of the quick turnaround from the previous night's practice, combined with the sweltering heat, made it the smartest choice. Either way, it was a low-key day at Gillette.
Did not practice: Tony Fiammetta,Tracy White, Nick McDonald, Jake Bequette, Matt Kopa, Logan Mankins, Jamey Richard, Sebastian Vollmer, Brandon Lloyd, Jeremy Ebert, Visanthe Shiancoe, Daniel Fells, Jake Ballard, Myron Pryor, Jonathan Fanene. Spencer Larsen also missed practice for the first time this camp. And no, Brian Waters has still not reported.
Brady worked 1-on-1 with Aaron Hernandez after the official end of practice for about 15 minutes. Among other things, the pair worked on handoffs out of the backfield.
Matt Slater racked up the receiver reps with Lloyd, Branch and Gaffney unavailable. He did a solid job with the opportunity, showing some good speed and soft hands.
Britt Davis had another strong showing. He made a tough catch in back corner of the end zone on a pass from Ryan Mallett that drew some cheers from the crowd.
James Ihedigbo still can't get a handle in coverage. Rob Gronkowski shook the safety off easily on one play. Yes, it was against tremendous tight end Gronkowski, but Ihedigbo should not be looking as bad as he did.
One step down further: Ross Ventrone. Nobody expects first-string safety stylings out of Ventrone, but he was in position when Brady threw a deep ball to Donte' Stallworth and still couldn't make a play.
Jermaine Cunningham had an OK day. He showed some speed and elusiveness getting off the line in 11-on-11s and did a decent job sticking with running backs in coverage.
One of those backs, Shane Vereen, stood out for showing good quickness in making moves immediately after catches.
Rob Gronkowski was targeted often in goal line and red zone drills and did a good job of securing the ball in heavy traffic. Two balls thrown his way weren't reeled in: One was an overthrow by Tom Brady, the other was knocked away on an impressive play by Dont'a Hightower who sprinted to the sideline and deflected the ball out of bounds just before it landed in Gronk's mitts.
CSNNE.com writers Mary Paoletti and Phil Perry both contributed to this report.