FOXBORO — Kony Ealy is happy with his first week and a half of Patriots training camp, though his role for the 2017 season remains an uncertainty.

The defensive end made two key plays Friday during the intrasquad scrimmage, halting running back Dion Lewis on fourth-and-1 and pressuring quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for a third-down stop two series later. But rookie left tackle Tony Garcia largely handled Ealy in the second half of the scrimmage, so the veteran’s consistency was a concern.

“He is making me better at my job, things I can improve on, by going as hard as he’s going and winning some of his battles,” Ealy said of the matchup with the third-round draft pick. “By the end of the day, it’s about competition and learning things that you’re trying to get better. We’re trying to make each other better.”

Ealy’s inconsistency issues were the reason why the Carolina Panthers decided to trade their 2014 second-round pick. He was dominant in Super Bowl 50 but never put it together in 2016. Panthers coach Ron Rivera butted heads with Ealy far too often as a result.

It’s too early to draw any conclusions as to whether or not the past two weeks have been a microcosm of Ealy’s three-year Carolina tenure, but he is eager to rectify his reputation and insisted he is on good terms with Pats coach Bill Belichick.

“It’s nothing negative, believe me,” Ealy said confidently. “I’m not trying to come into this situation, a great situation for me, with anything negative. I’m just trying to come in here and learn everything I can learn and win and let everything else lie where it may.”

The root of Ealy’s rocky start remains a mystery. Belichick held him out of the camp-opening practice for undisclosed reasons, which obviously sounds like a disciplinary decision, but Ealy maintains that wasn’t the case.

“It was not a negative situation, nothing like that,” Ealy said. “It was just something that he wanted me to do as far as not practicing that day. I didn’t practice, obviously, because I’m listening to what my coach says. I’m just trying to better my game off the field as far as visual learning. It’s nothing bad.”

The regular-season opener is a month from tomorrow, so the start of Ealy’s camp will be irrelevant by then if he improves his consistency and continues to make timely plays. There’s nothing mysterious about Belichick’s bottom line, that’s for sure.

“(Friday) was a very important scrimmage for me. I definitely wanted to come out and start fast,” Ealy said. “I think things are going well as far as me coming in, doing what I need to do, listening to my coaches and trying to get better every day.”

Bolden in running

Brandon Bolden has outlasted a number of other running backs because of his work on special teams, but he might be facing his greatest challenge yet in his sixth training camp with the Pats.

In the offseason, the Patriots gave handsome contracts to James White (up to $15 million over three years), Mike Gillislee (two years, $6.4 million) and Rex Burkhead (one year, up to $3.1 million). Bolden waited until April 5 to return on a one-year, $855,000 deal that included a mere $50,000 guaranteed (he also earned $30,000 in offseason workout bonuses).

The undrafted 2012 signee has survived longer than the likes of Shane Vereen, Stevan Ridley, LeGarrette Blount and Jonas Gray, and he hopes his value in the kicking game is enough for another season in Foxboro.

“It’s worked for me in the past,” Bolden said. “It’s going to be the same for me whether it’s offense or special teams. If they want me to run out there and play the 3-technique on defense, I’ll go do that, too. I’ll do that to the best of my ability and see if we can get it done.”

Time for a break

The Patriots are off today for the second time since camp opened, and they like the timing after five consecutive days of padded practices. The Jacksonville Jaguars arrive tomorrow for two full-speed joint practices ahead of Thursday’s preseason opener at Gillette Stadium.

“We have a lot of work to do,” slot receiver Danny Amendola said. “We’ve been putting in some good work in OTAs, good work in the start of this camp, and we’ve got a new team coming into town (tomorrow). We’re excited to ramp up and hit somebody else for a change, see where we kind of stack up.”