FOXBOROUGH — Picked-up pieces about the Patriots after watching three days of training camp:
■ This might be the camp with the least amount of drama or intrigue that I have attended in 11 years covering multiple NFL teams. Of the 24 players who participated in the most snaps in Super Bowl LI, 22 are back. There are only a handful of roster battles, only one or two guys coming off bad seasons, no contract holdouts, and no lawsuits or suspensions looming over the starting quarterback.
The only drama so far is the whereabouts of Rob Ninkovich, who has missed all three days for personal reasons. The obvious inference is that Ninkovich, 33, is considering retirement, but no one has gotten to the bottom of his absence. His agent hasn’t answered any correspondence.
■ This camp is about keeping everyone healthy and gearing up for the regular season, and not as much about competition and sorting out the depth chart. Saturday’s practice in pads was the shortest one so far, conducted in less than two hours (the first two each went about 2½).
■ The best part of a Bill Belichick training camp is watching some of the esoteric drills he has his players work on. Saturday, it was having the big guys catching kickoffs off the Juggs machine, because you never know the one or two times that will come up during the season.
■ Some early impressions of the new guys: Brandin Cooks is as fast as advertised, and simply can’t be covered in one-on-one drills. He spent much of the day running behind the defense and often had to slow down for the ball to reach him. Mike Gillislee had two impressive goal-line runs on Saturday, finding the end zone after taking some big hits. He’s 30 pounds lighter than LeGarrette Blount, but the Patriots look like they’ll be giving Gillislee first crack at the goal-line carries. Rex Burkhead also took a few handoffs near the goal line.
Cornerback Stephon Gilmore has mostly been playing the right side, and he showed great quickness and reaction in breaking up a curl route to Cooks. And David Harris delivered some thunderous hits on Saturday. The 11-year veteran looks like he wants to prove he still has a lot left in the tank. He is taking many of the first-team reps alongside Kyle Van Noy with Dont’a Hightower starting the year on the physically unable to perform list.
■ One player who needs a good camp is cornerback Cyrus Jones, last year’s second-round pick who flopped in his rookie season. Jones hasn’t been getting many looks with the starting secondary yet, but he has been fielding a ton of punts after fumbling five times last year. Jones spends about 10 minutes after each practice fielding punts from Ryan Allen. The Patriots have trusty veterans to use in that position in Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola, and Cooks, but you get the feeling that the Patriots would rather Jones win that job so they can save some wear and tear on their veteran receivers.
■ Off to a good start is former second-round pick Jordan Richards, who is firmly on the roster bubble after two subpar seasons. Richards, playing strong safety on the second team, was the first person to intercept Tom Brady all training camp on Saturday, and also had an impressive pass breakup against Rob Gronkowski in the end zone. The the key will be maintaining this high level of play for five weeks.
■ Edelman has been showing so far that he’s not just a slot receiver. He had an impressive catch deep down the post on Saturday, and he has come down with a few wheel fades, as well.
■ Gilmore and Malcolm Butler are set as the top two cornerbacks, and Jonathan Jones, undrafted last year out of Auburn, looks like he’s getting first crack at winning the slot cornerback position. Eric Rowe has looked good so far, but he’s a bit big for the slot at 6 feet 1 inch and 205 pounds and might be better suited as a depth piece on the outside. Cyrus Jones should be in the mix as well.
■ UCLA offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch and Celtics coach Brad Stevens have been among Belichick’s first visitors to camp (Red Sox third base coach Brian Butterfield was at practice Thursday). Fisch spent the first two days in Foxborough and had a nice chat with Brady after Friday’s practice. Fisch was Michigan’s quarterbacks coach in 2015-16.
■ The offensive line came out Saturday with the same lineup as last year. Left to right: Nate Solder, Joe Thuney, David Andrews, Shaq Mason, and Marcus Cannon. It would take a major upset for that not to be the starting lineup on opening day. Third-round pick Tony Garcia was likely drafted to be Solder’s replacement but probably not until next year at the earliest, as Belichick prefers to redshirt offensive linemen, as he did with Solder in 2011. Thuney, Ted Karras, and rookies Jason King and James Ferentz have taken snaps at center in various drills.
■ Two players that are hard not to root for are undrafted receiver Austin Carr and cornerback Will Likely. Carr, the Big Ten receiver of the year in 2016, runs crisp routes and plays with great energy. The Patriots probably won’t have an open roster spot for a receiver, but he’s a definite practice squad candidate. And Likely is the ultimate underdog — a 5-7, 175-pound corner coming off a torn ACL. He’s been scrappy and competitive, getting his hand on more than a few passes.
Ben Volin can be reached at ben.volin@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @BenVolin.
