FOXBORO -- While everyone was focused on Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski during Day 1 of minicamp, it was the Patriots defense that garnered its share of attention on Day 2. Here's a full rundown of the takeaways from Wednesday's workout . . .
* Whether it was Dont'a Hightower batting a Brady pass up in the air for a near pick, Duron Harmon breaking up a Brady attempt and then wagging his finger, Stephon Gilmore breaking up another Brady throw, or Patrick Chung breaking up a Brady toss intended for Dwayne Allen the Patriots regulars on defense more than held their own against Brady's offense. It was more of the same when a different unit subbed in. Second-year corner Ryan Lewis had an impressive breakup in team work when Brian Hoyer was behind center, and Jordan Richards picked off another Hoyer pass that sailed high earlier in the practice.
* And even though there are no pads in minicamp, even though there is no real contact, the Patriots found ways to break into the Patriots backfield unencumbered. Elandon Roberts broke through for a pressure that would have negated a Hoyer completion to Sony Michel had it been a live situation. A few plays earlier, Deatrich Wise looped around to the middle of the defensive line on a stunt to get to Brady with ease. For the second straight day, Adrian Clayborn (who has been the first player on the field for each of the first two days of minicamp) was also able to beat his man to pressure Brady.
* The Patriots incorporated noise into the practice for the first time with reporters watching. AC/DC, Aerosmith and Bon Jovi were among the bands blaring over the on-the-field speakers to make life difficult on the offense.
* Kenny Britt was not present for the session after suffering an injury in Tuesday's work. Unfortunately for Britt, it seemed as though he was stringing together good practices before his injury. Now, we'll see for how long, he has an ailment he'll have to manage. Malcolm Mitchell continues to miss Patriots practices. He hasn't been seen on the field since the team's first OTA practice.
* Brady was not quite as accurate as he was during Day 1 of minicamp, as the number of passes broken up would indicate. He did make a couple of Brady-esque throws, though. Early in the practice, during a 4-on-3 period, he found Jacob Hollister deep over the middle with Devin McCourty in close coverage. Hollister and Brady connected for another nice gain with Harmon close later in the same period. In 7-on-7 work, Brady found James White deep down the sideline for another impressive completion.
* Rob Gronkowski was once again highly enthusiastic almost every time he got his hands on the football during team work. After one touchdown, he tossed the ball high into the air. After another long catch-and-run, he flung the ball down immediately after he crossed the goal line even though defensive players had stopped chasing him. On one reception Gronkowski made along the sideline, he picked himself up off the turf and gave an emphatic first down signal. He's clearly enjoying himself, and he wants everyone to know it.
* Isaiah Wynn and Trent Brown likely experienced Dante Scarnecchia's angry voice at some point this spring. Reporters have only watched four of seven practices thus far. But if they weren't familiar with their offensive line coach's ire before Wednesday, they certainly were after. Scarnecchia lit into the pair -- with Wynn at left guard and Brown at left tackle -- and took them out of one practice period briefly. The pair went back in later, and it seemed they still had some kinks to iron out, and Scarnecchia seemed to let them know. Later in the session, it looked like attaboys were tossed in their direction from Scarnecchia, but the point was made: Just because the pads aren't on doesn't mean you can botch your assignments.
* Officials visited the Patriots Wednesday to help players and coaches understand how things will be called in 2018. They observed sideline catch drills and made rulings on those. They kept a close eye on the new-look kickoffs the Patriots practiced. And they kept up with the Patriots during a two-minute practice period. At one point, Belichick made the point to players that they should be handing the officials the football after picking up yardage since it would help allow the Patriots to get to the line quicker and snap it again. It was the latest example of Belichick's affinity for -- and his understanding of -- the importance of the little things.
* The Patriots had visitors from the Iowa football program back at Wednesday's practice. "We go into a lot of schools every year and we get great cooperation from those schools. Certainly Iowa is one of them. We have a number of their players on our team but we have a great relationship with Kirk [Ferentz] and his staff – have for a long time. They run a great program. It's good to interact with them."