It wasn't exactly the kind of start to his first season that Gabe Jacas expected, but the rookie is doing his best to make up for lost time.

After missing the start of training camp while waiting to get his contract finalized, Jacas finally made his way to the field on Saturday for his first official practice as a Patriot. On Monday he donned pads for the first time and started taking part in team drills, and Tuesday saw that action ratchet up a bit further.

The second-round pick out of Illinois could play a big part in the Patriots pass rush, particularly in light of some questions at the edge position. Harold Landry remains on PUP, leaving the position to free agent addition Dre'Mont Jones and a pair of youngsters in Elijah Ponder and Bradyn Swinson. Undrafted rookie Xavier Holmes also has received some reps while Amari Gainer, Jesse Luketa and seventh-round pick Quintayvious Hutchins also are on the depth chart. But Jacas is expected to contribute immediately.

"We've got to make up for lost time, I think, a little bit with Gabe," Mike Vrabel said. "I'd say he's working hard. I think he's into it. He's trying to learn, he's focused. A lot of these things are new for him, and I think he has done a good job of controlling what he can control. I see him in there meeting with Smitty [outside linebackers coach Mike Smith] a lot – and again, there's a return to play.

"He'll have a few more reps than he did yesterday and – these situations he has to just understand, and it's good to see him get acclimated to the special team stuff. So, I think it's going well. I think we're off to a good start, and hopefully he can continue to keep adding things and figure out where he can help us defensively and really, special teams."

Jacas was in with the second group during 11-on-11 periods throughout the morning. At times he showed a nice burst off the edge but his trademark figures to be his power. That's how won as a pass rusher more often than not in college, and that physicality has been evident.

While Jacas is just getting started after missing the first week of camp, he doesn't feel his absence has put him too far behind. Instead, he's focused on playing catch up and fitting in.

"First and foremost, I just want to say how grateful I am to be here," Jacas said. "It was a long journey but I'm just glad to be here and be part of this organization. It's a blessing.

"All that stuff is behind me. I'm just glad to be back out on the field. I'm fine. I'm 100 percent. Whenever they tell me I'm good to go, I'll go. I've been studying the playbook and I'm just out here playing ball. I don't feel like I'm too far behind."

Jones, who is entering his eighth NFL season and first with the Patriots, has spent some time with Jacas trying to offer some guidance.

"He's eager and plays with energy," Jones said of the rookie. "I've been talking to him about his timing with his hands and explaining what offensive linemen like to do with their punch and to have his hands ready to fight that. It's more about small details like that."

Beyond the first impressions of Jacas, here are one man's observations from Day 9 of training camp.

-- Landry and C.J. Dippre (left wrist) remain on PUP while Brenden Schooler is still on NFI. Beyond that trio, the Patriots were missing a handful of players for Tuesday's practice. Reggie Gilliam missed his third workout out of the nine that have taken place, although he is not dealing with any known injury at this time. Carlton Davis remained out for the fifth straight day due to an apparent leg injury, and Caedan Wallace missed his second straight. Tight end Jack Westover was also not spotted.

-- In addition, Morgan Moses skipped the individual work at the start of practice before returning to take part in the full team work at right tackle. Christian Barmore was in uniform but was not involved in the 11-on-11 periods. Vrabel indicated before practice that the defensive tackle would be limited.

-- When the defense took the field for the first 11-on-11 work, Cory Durden lined up next to Milton Williams in Barmore's place. During the second series, it was Joshua Farmer alongside Williams. Both players saw plenty of high-quality reps during the practice.

-- With Wallace out of the lineup and depth at guard a bit thin, veteran tackle James Hudson has seen time on the inside each of the last two days. Hudson was repping at both tackle spots earlier in camp but was with the backups at guard at times Monday and Tuesday.

-- Casey Rogers, who signed with the Patriots on Monday, switched from No. 96 to 65 on Tuesday. Fellow defensive tackle David Blay remains in his normal blue 96 jersey.

-- Rookie offensive linemen Jacob Rizy and JonDarius Morgan served as the hype men before stretching, circling the field to the right trying to get the fans fired up.

-- The wide receivers continue to add wrinkles to their positional work. Coach Todd Downing had the group line up side-by-side with one wideout cutting closely behind them running across the field. When Downing threw a pass, the wideouts raised their hands in an effort to reduce the intended target's visibility, making the catches more difficult. The defensive backs did similar work, only members of the equipment staff wore pads on their hands and at times deflected passes to make it tougher for the players to record would-be interceptions.

-- The special teams work focused on the punting unit with Mike Brown serving as the personal protector and Terrell Jennings and Tanner Arkin manning the wings. Another group saw Dell Pettus take Brown's spot while Craig Woodson and Lan Larison took the wings. There's been constant shuffling on the units throughout camp.

-- It was interesting to see just three players handling Bryce Baringer's punts during the period. Marcus Jones, DeMario Douglas and Romeo Doubs rotated as the returners. Baringer's kicks occasionally sent the returners sprinting back or toward the sideline, and the limited numbers meant a lot of running for the trio. That seemed to have an effect on all three as they appeared gassed by the end of the drill.

-- The team periods were filled with positive plays for both units, marking a nice trend that has developed over the last few days. Offense and defense have enjoyed success at times, which is probably how the coaches would like to see things play out on a consistent basis. The start belonged to the defense, but Drake Maye's crew fought back with a nice two-minute drill to end it. Starting with 1:05 on the clock, Maye found Douglas to convert an early third down before hitting Mack Hollins on a deep dig. Maye spiked the ball to stop the clock with 35 ticks left, then connected with A.J. Brown on a slant. At that point, Vrabel had Maye and the offense stand over the ball before spiking it with 4 seconds left. Andy Borregales then hit the field goal to close the drill. Interestingly, when Tommy DeVito's group similarly moved into field goal range, he had the backup quarterback spike it with 10 seconds left before sending Borregales out. Both units likely had time to run another play, but Vrabel opted to kick. Borregales was a perfect 7-for-7 on the day.

-- In addition to Jacas and Jones, Douglas, Jared Wilson, TreVeyon Henderson and Namdi Obiazor all spent time chatting with the media after practice.

-- The Patriots are scheduled to conduct a walkthrough in Foxborough on Wednesday from 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. The session will be closed to fans, as will Thursday's practice. The next workout scheduled to be open to the public will take place on Friday. As always, please check with Patriots.com for the latest schedule updates throughout training camp.

DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer