FOXBORO — By and large, the Patriots’ first training camp practice Wednesday mirrored many before it.

Bill Belichick’s defense bested his offense in team drills. The passing game lacked rhythm and chemistry, both of which take time to develop. Most periods consisted of red-zone play and special teams work. And an unrelenting sun beat down on a cheery crowd happy to watch their football team play football again.

Practice was, in a word, normal. And for now, normal works.

The Pats are actively recovering from their most dysfunctional season under Belichick, one defined by the distrust that cracked relationships between players, players and coaches — including head coach and quarterback — and a few relationships within the coaching staff. Mac Jones gave voice to these notions after practice, saying he and Belichick have agreed on a fresh start, and “trust” is the big focus of training camp.

But during practice, Jones’ performance was awfully reminiscent of last season. He went 5-of-10 with an interception during competitive team drills, all of which were run in the low red zone. Backup Bailey Zappe was 4-of-11 while exclusively facing second-stringers.

Time to worry? No. Of course not.

A year ago, Jones opened training camp with a shiny 18-of-22 showing that helped inspire hope that maybe, just maybe, an offense led by Belichick and Matt Patricia could work. You know how that story ended.

This story? We’ve barely turned the first page.

Here are the Herald’s complete practice observations:

Non-contact jersey: LB/S Marte Mapu

PUP: OL Mike Onwenu, S Cody Davis

Non-football illness: OT Calvin Anderson

Notes: The Patriots had three players absent, and none were surprises. Onwenu continues to recover from offseason ankle surgery, and his starting right guard job will be there whenever he returns. Anderson was placed on the Non-Football Illness list on Tuesday. Davis, as a 34-year-old core special teamer, should be considered on the roster bubble.

Over the spring, Mac Jones found a natural connection with one of his new weapons: tight end Mike Gesicki. So naturally, on his first dropback during a competitive team period in training camp, he looked right for the athletic tight end.

Instead, Jones found Kyle Dugger. The fourth-year safety undercut an in-breaking route inside the end zone for a picture-perfect pick. Dugger hounded Jones in minicamp, when he also intercepted him during team drills, and played perfect technique Wednesday realizing he had help in the middle of the field from a looming free safety. Allowing Gesicki to cut inside him looked like a safe throwing lane for Jones — except it was a trap, one Dugger laid and then sprung all in one play.

While the passing game struggled overall, Henry did not. The 28-year-old tight end caught two touchdowns from Jones during 11-on-11 work, one versus Dugger and another in front of first-round rookie corner Christian Gonzalez. Henry celebrated the second score by throwing his arms up and gesturing to the crowd, an earned celebration after a great rep.

Note: The passing stats below were tallied during competitive 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 periods only.

Notes: These raw numbers were slightly depressed by playing exclusively within the tight red zone. Everything happens faster inside the 10-yard line, the windows are tighter and timing must be perfect. Does that excuse this miserable of a performance?

No, but it’s necessary context, even for Day 1 of camp.

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Second-year running backs Pierre Strong and Kevin Harris should still be viewed as the favorites to eat up Rhamondre Stevenson's leftover carries, but don't forget about Montgomery. He took snaps as a receiver and running back Wednesday, finished with a team-high four catches in team drills and pulled a touchdown away from third-round rookie Marte Mapu.

The little-known corner led the Patriots with two pass breakups. Both came at Trace McSorley's expense, as the third-team offense worked against Wade's third-string defense. Wade broke up the last pass of practice right at the goal line, and climbed over special teamer/wide receiver Raleigh Webb to bat away the other.

Zappe was erratic after his 2-of-3 start in team drills and finished with a 36% completion percentage. Of his four completions, one was at backup tight end Matt Sokol running free in the flat and another was a contested-catch. He also had two passes tipped at the line.

One target. That's it.

That is all Thornton, a former second-round pick the staff hopes is primed for a year 2 leap, saw during competitive 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 work. On the play, Myles Bryant beat him for a pass breakup.

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