For the fourth straight day, the New England Patriots returned to the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium today. In front of fully-packed stands, the team held its second straight session in full-pads. Let’s find out what happened:

Attendance

WR Malcolm Mitchell, RB Mike Gillislee, and CB Keion Crossen were not spotted. (source) Both Gillislee and Crossen are expected back soon.

DE Trey Flowers and WR Kenny Britt were back. Flowers returned after leaving yesterday’s practice with an apparent forehead/eye injury, Britt returned after missing yesterday’s session altogether. (source)

WR Kenny Britt, WR Matthew Slater, CB Jonathan Jones, CB Cyrus Jones, and SS Nate Ebner were present bud did not participate in any drills. (source)

Injuries

Chris Hogan was a bit slow to get up after a goal line pass from Tom Brady that was broken up by Eric Rowe. (source)

Jordan Matthews exited the session after injuring his right hamstring during one-on-one work. (source)

Offense

The quarterbacks performed as follows during 11-on-11 work: (source)

Cordarrelle Patterson had another highlight-reel play today: The offseason acquisition caught a back-shoulder pass over Eric Rowe, who was covering almost perfectly. (source)

The Patriots spent an entire section of practice working on gadget and misdirection plays. (source) Overall, though, the focus was again on running the football. (source)

Tom Brady finished the session working on the side with James White, Jacob Hollister, Phillip Dorsett, and Chris Hogan. (source)

Hollister again stood out by making a leaping touchdown catch over Eddie Pleasant. (source)

Trent Brown’s athleticism continued to stand out. At one point, he even served as the lead blocker on a screen pass to Chris Hogan. (source)

Sony Michel had a better day today than yesterday. The first-round rookie had a long gain on a screen pass and also did not put the football on the ground all session long. (source)

Defense

Stephon Gilmore continues his fantastic summer, breaking up both passes thrown towards him – intended for Chris Hogan and Julian Edelman – during one-on-one work. (source)

Eric Rowe registered an interception off Danny Etling on a pass that was tipped by Braxton Berrios. (source)

Kyle Van Noy let a would-be interception go through his hands and did ten push-ups as a form of self-punishment. Still, Van Noy continues to be active as a pass defender this camp. (source)

Jordan Richards had a big pass breakup on a deep pass from Brian Hoyer intended for Riley McCarron. (source)

Elandon Roberts had the “hit of the day” when he leveled Brandon Bolden late in practice. (source)

The defense got the better of the offense on four straight goal line plays: First, Malcom Brown an Adrian Clayborn stopped Sony Michel, then Danny Shelton and Trey Flowers denied Rex Burkhead. (source) Patrick Chung, Ja’Whaun Bentley and the aforementioned Roberts also had stops. (source)

Shelton and Lawrence Guy are often the top group at defensive tackle, with Brown and Vincent Valentine the next men up. (source)

Second-round rookie cornerback Duke Dawson received reps with the starting defense, playing alongside Stephon Gilmore and Eric Rowe. (source)

Miscellaneous

Adrian Clayborn was the first player on the field today. (source)

Deatrich Wise Jr. was the last player on the field today, staying almost 50 minutes after the session ended. (source)

The Patriots will return to practice tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. for their yearly in-stadium session exclusively for season ticket holders.