ATTENDANCE, PLEASE

■ LB Rob Ninkovich, RB Dion Lewis, TE Bryce Williams, G Jonathan Cooper, and OT Sebastian Vollmer were not spotted.

■ WR Danny Amendola was at the session but did not practice.

NEW INJURIES: None.

DRESS CODE: Shorts and shells.

THREE UP

■ Jacoby Brissett: The rookie QB hasn’t received a ton of snaps between the last few scrimmages and joint practices, but he did go 8 of 9 during a half-speed seven-on-seven exercise at the end of practice under the eyes of Bill Belichick.

■ Eric LeGrand: The former Rutgers player who was paralyzed in 2010 delivered an inspirational message to both teams after practice. Patriots Devin McCourty, Logan Ryan, Duron Harmon, and Jonathan Freeny played with LeGrand at Rutgers.

■ The Foxborough Faithful: Despite monsoon-like conditions at the start of practice and a steady rain that followed, the sideline bleachers remained packed and lively for the two-hour-plus session.

THREE DOWN

■ Mother Nature: The big lady really put on a show, but the deluge kept the practice, which was going to be a noncontact exercise anyway, at slower than half-speed.

■ Ken Crawley: The defensive back picked off a Jimmy Garoppolo pass during a drill in which the Saints weren’t supposed to be defending and took some friendly grief from his teammates.

■ The unidentified referee/staffer . . . who called a false start on Chris Hogan (forcing him to take a penalty lap) when clearly the call should have been offside on the Saints. We’re stretching here, but it was a very uneventful practice.

TOP PLAYS

■ With most of the practice run at half-speed — maybe even quarter-speed — highlight moments were at a premium because of the pouring rain and slick field. However, it is worth mentioning that tight ends Bear Pascoe and A.J. Derby, and rookie receiver Malcolm Mitchell all made nice receptions during Brissett’s late 11-on-11 session. It might have been Pascoe’s first reception during a full-team drill this camp.

■ Rob Gronkowski twice made nice recoveries during onside kick drills.

■ DeAndre Carter made a nice leaping end zone catch from Brissett during one-on-one drills.

■ Veteran receiver Nate Washington made three nice catches from Garoppolo during the one-on-ones, beating three different Saints defenders.

ODDS AND ENDS

■ Patriots left tackle Nate Solder was back on the field after a one-day absence for an undisclosed reason.

■ Receivers Julian Edelman and Keshawn Martin, running backs D.J. Foster and Donald Brown, defensive linemen Anthony Johnson and Frank Kearse, and linebacker Freeny all did some work on the lower conditioning field.

■ The teams spent a lot of time working on onside kicks and recoveries. Interestingly, the Patriots offensive and defensive linemen did bag work at the far end of the field, while the Saints just stood on the sideline and watched the kicks.

■ The always humorous Alan Branch had fun in the rain, rushing out from the sideline with an exaggerated leg kick and his arms flailing. He looked like he was doing the Fred Sanford heart attack dance.

■ Belichick wore a Gatorade towel over his shoulders like a cape during the heaviest downpours.

■ Vinnie Sunseri, a former Saint and Alabama alum, walked out to practice with Saints rookie Dillon Lee, also an ex-Crimson Tider.

■ Ramon Humber, also a former Saint, arrived with current Saint Stephone Anthony.

■  Tom Brady worked on his hard counts, screaming, “Hut, hut, hut!’’ before several snaps.

■ Belichick exchanged laughs and a handshake with Saints tackle Nick Fairley, who was on New England’s free agent radar screen last March.

■ Patrick Chung and Drew Brees exchanged friendly helmet slaps after Chung arrived in the pocket unfettered on a perfect safety blitz.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Thursday: Exhibition game vs. Saints, 7:30 p.m.

Friday and Saturday: No practice.

Jim McBride