FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The Patriots held their final practice open to the public on Friday. Passing along some observations from the session:

Brady, Lloyd, Gronkowski work separate from team, Welker leaves early. The offensive trio of Tom Brady, Brandon Lloyd and Rob Gronkowski spent a chunk of practice working on routes on the field opposite the remainder of their team. No word on why this was the case, but it opened up opportunities for others to take reps on the primary practice field. Additionally, receiver Wes Welker left the field early. He had no visible signs of an injury. No word on that one either.

Pads come off. For the first time since Sunday, the Patriots practiced without full pads. That afforded the team four effective days of work. As a result of the pads being off today, the pace of practice was dramatically reduced. It wasn't quite a walk-through, but there was much less activity overall.

Ebner picks two. Rookie safety Nate Ebner's defensive development continues, as he picked off two more passes on Friday, each on tipped passes. The passes were thrown by Ryan Mallett and Brian Hoyer.

Vereen catches, runs well. With Stevan Ridley nursing an injury and taking in practice from the sidelines, the window opened for Shane Vereen to receive an extensive workload. He had yet another productive day overall, particularly catching the football and moving in space. The Vereen we've seen in recent days is the one many anticipated he would be when he was drafted in the second round in 2011.

Patricia works with the headset. During a portion of 11-on-11 team drills, defensive coordinator Matt Patricia was employing the headset he uses on game days to communicate with his defensive leaders in the huddle. Bill Belichick often talks about practicing situational football, and count this of an example as such. Communication matters.

Brown forces Bolden fumble. Defensive back Sergio Brown swooped in for a clean strip of the football out of the arm of running back Brandon Bolden, who had corralled a screen pass. Bolden has had a couple of fumbles in recent practices.

Plays of note. Aaron Hernandez made a toe-tapping catch on the sideline over a defender on a throw from Brian Hoyer. With Gronkowski working on the opposite field, it was even easier to notice Hernandez making a bunch of plays. He did, however, drop a pass on what would've been a tremendous grab down the middle of the field in traffic. ... Though Brady, Gronkowski and Lloyd spent much of practice working separately, the trio did take part in the opening rep of an 11-on-11 period. Brady connected with Lloyd for a sweet one-handed grab in the back of the end zone.

Law shows up. Former Patriots star cornerback Ty Law took in the sights of Friday's practice, and spent time talking with many of his former teammates after practice. He was also spotted speaking with owner Robert Kraft, and fielded questions from reporters during the session.

Attendance report. Stevan Ridley (knee/leg) and Tavon Wilson (ankle) were held out of practice. ... Welker, as previously mentioned, left practice early. ... Both Eric Kettani (calf?) and Malcolm Williams (unknown) returned to practice. ... Players spotted rehabbing or watching practice were fullback Spencer Larsen (unknown); tight end Daniel Fells (leg); offensive linemen Sebastian Vollmer (back), Kyle Hix (arm/shoulder) and Markus Zusevics (pectoral); defensive lineman Myron Pryor (shoulder); cornerback Alfonzo Dennard (hamstring); safety James Ihedigbo (unknown); and linebacker Tracy White. ... Players not spotted: tight ends Visanthe Shiancoe (hamstring) and Jake Ballard (ACL); offensive linemen Brian Waters (did not report) and Matt Kopa (ankle); defensive linemen Jonathan Fanene (unknown) and Gerard Warren (unknown).