PHILADELPHIA — The Patriots concluded their 15th practice of training camp Tuesday. It was their second and final joint practice with the Eagles. Here are The Athletic’s observations.

Attendance:

Did not participate (17): CB Jon Jones (first absence), TE Matt LaCosse (first absence), TE Troy Fumagalli (first absence), TE Jonnu Smith (second consecutive absence), DB Myles Bryant (third consecutive absence), Anfernee Jennings (sixth total absence), WR Tre Nixon (third consecutive absence), DT Lawrence Guy (third consecutive absence), TE Hunter Henry (fifth consecutive absence), LS Joe Cardona (fifth consecutive absence), K Nick Folk (eighth consecutive absence), QB Jarrett Stidham (PUP), CB Stephon Gilmore (PUP), LB Cam McGrone (NFI), LB Terez Hall (PUP), S Josh Bledsoe (NFI), DT Byron Cowart (PUP)

Attendance notes: For the third consecutive day, Henry was in uniform but departed for conditioning work during the team stretch. … Smith, Jones and Fumagalli were each present for a short stretch to watch practice but not in uniform.

Injury: Ronnie Perkins got tangled up during a kickoff period and departed with the athletic training staff. He later returned with tape on his right knee to watch the remainder of practice.

Gear: Full pads

Quarterback competition

Cam Newton had his best practice in a week, and he completed 13 of 15 passes (one drop) in team drills (11-on-11s, seven-on-sevens). Newton opened with 13 consecutive completions before Kristian Wilkerson’s drop ended the streak. Newton broke a streak of three consecutive practices (excluding walk-throughs) with an interception.

Newton’s targets: Brandon Bolden (1 of 1), Devin Ross (1 of 1), Jakobi Meyers (3 of 3), James White (1 of 1), Sony Michel (3 of 3), Nelson Agholor (1 of 2), Kendrick Bourne (1 of 1), Gunner Olszewski (1 of 1), Rhamondre Stevenson (1 of 1), Kristian Wilkerson (0 of 1, drop).

Mac Jones was also sharp with the exception of his one interception — just his fourth of camp and his first since Aug. 8. Jones was 13-for-14 in team drills, and he completed his final 11 throws. More importantly, he got a mixture of reps with the starters after dominating the backups Monday. The Monday usage was odd, as Jones has consistently gotten a mixture of reps with the starters in Foxboro, so this was a return to normalcy in that sense.

Jones’ targets: Nelson Agholor (1 of 1), James White (2 of 2), Devin Asiasi (2 of 3, interception), Jakobi Meyers (2 of 2), N’Keal Harry (2 of 2), Kendrick Bourne (2 of 2), Brandon Bolden (2 of 2).

Brian Hoyer was 2-for-4 with an interception in his two periods of limited work with the backups.

Oddly enough, Newton’s day got off to a rough start in the one-on-one period when he only completed 3 of 11 passes (two drops). The drops were even more frustrating because Ross and Agholor ran outstanding double-move routes to get open. Agholor’s route was so good that the crowd audibly gasped as No. 1 cornerback Darius Slay got left behind.

Jones was 7-for-11 in the one-on-one period, highlighted by a great throw to a blanketed Isaiah Zuber over the middle.

Every joint period took place in the red zone. In the first 11-on-11 period, Newton opened with a screen to Michel and then got lucky when a bad throw got deflected by a linebacker before Bourne scooped it up for a short gain over the middle.

Jones opened by hitting Agholor on a left out route then made a really good read to deliver a 20-yard touchdown pass to White on a corner route to the left side of the end zone. Jones made the throw as White worked through traffic at the hash marks and broke free for the easy catch.

Interestingly, Newton then took over for one rep and ran an option play with Bolden. Jones then came back and finished the period with hand-offs. The hypothetical scenario has been raised that Jones could win the job and Newton could be used for the occasional change-of-pace quick play, and this sequence brought that to mind.

Next in seven-on-sevens, Newton made a nice throw to hit Bolden on a right out route then completed passes to Ross on a hitch and Meyers on a slant. Newton then did a good job on a completion to White on a hitch, delivering the ball to White’s outside shoulder and away from the converging linebacker. Newton closed the period with another nice throw to a well-covered Michel on a hitch and a touchdown pass to Agholor, who got free in the right corner of the end zone with a nifty double move.

Jones opened his period with an ugly interception that was nearly identical to Newton’s the day before. He stared down Asiasi’s post route but didn’t aim high enough, and linebacker T.J. Edwards easily picked it. Jones bounced back, though — a camp theme for the rookie — and hit Meyers twice in a row, first on a hitch then on a slant. Then Jones found Harry, who stopped in the middle of the zone coverage and made a tough touchdown catch with a couple Eagles defenders on his back. Jones closed the period with a touchdown pass to Asiasi on a drag route.

In another seven-on-seven period, Newton hit Meyers and Olszewski on slants before a touchdown pass to Meyers on another slant route.

Jones took over and hit White on a slant for a touchdown, Harry for a 5-yard touchdown pass on a hitch in another tight window and Bolden for a short touchdown pass on a left out route after scrambling to let someone get open.

Then came another interesting sequence as Newton subbed in for Jones while the rookie was in the huddle. It was either a way for Bill Belichick to keep the quarterbacks ready for any scenario or some type of miscommunication with who should have been on the field. Anyway, Newton then made a good read to hit Michel for a touchdown on a dig route, found Stevenson on a left out route and then did another nice job to put it on Wilkerson’s hands as he crossed through the back of the end zone, but Wilkerson dropped his team-worst sixth pass of camp.

Jones returned for two more throws, hitting Bolden for a touchdown on a hitch route and then cycling to his last read to find Bourne in the back of the end zone as he crossed away from coverage.

The final period was a competitive 11-on-11 sequence. Newton’s final throw was his biggest blemish on the day as he took too long to see a wide-open Agholor in the back of the end zone. By the time Newton made the throw, a defender was able to recover to break it up. But Newton closed the period with a read-option give to Damien Harris for a touchdown before keeping one himself and scoring.

Jones took over, checked the play at the line of scrimmage, went play-action then led Asiasi into the right flat for a nice touchdown from all involved. As a defender tried to clog the throwing lane, Jones put the ball intentionally to Asiasi’s outside shoulder, and Asiasi did a really good job to adjust and make the short catch for the touchdown. The play drew a big celebration from Jones, the coaches and his teammates. The period ended with Bolden and White each running for touchdowns.

Both quarterbacks were very good. Newton needed a day like this after leveling off for about a week, and Jones’ split reps with the starters and backups indicated he’s still in the mix for the starting job. Realistically, we’ll probably have a clearer idea next week on which quarterback will start the regular-season opener.

Another positive for Newton: After too many checkdowns and a lot of pressure from the pass rush Monday, he made quicker throws Tuesday. And while Newton completed six passes to running backs Tuesday, I’m not sure I’d consider them checkdowns as they were mostly productive plays.

Newton was 26-for-36 (two drops) with an interception in the two practices with the Eagles. He is now 129-for-201 (64.2 percent) with eight interceptions in team drills during 12 competitive training camp practices, excluding three walk-throughs. With nine drops, he’s got an adjusted accuracy rate of 68.7 percent.

Jones was 30-for-39 (two drops) with an interception in the two joint practices, though he spent more time with the backups Monday. He is now 154-for-225 (68.4 percent) with four interceptions in training camp. With 13 dropped balls, Jones’ adjusted accuracy rate is 74.2 percent.

Remaining observations

This was a not-so-subtle reminder that depth on paper can be fleeting. Tight ends Smith and Henry are out of practice for the time being, Dalton Keene is on injured reserve and LaCosse and Fumagalli couldn’t practice Tuesday. Asiasi was the only true tight end in team drills, which had to sting a little extra with the focus on red zone work. This was a good thing for Asiasi, though, as he said last week he’s working his way back from a conditioning standpoint after opening camp on the COVID-19 list. Asiasi said he didn’t have any issues with his conditioning Tuesday despite the heavy workload.

It was nice to see inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo mixing it up with his group during a positional period. Mayo was in the action in the middle of a rep and hand-checking the linebackers.

Agholor’s double moves have been standing out, as his footwork and explosion have helped him make corners look silly. The quarterbacks are still working on their chemistry with Agholor, largely due to longer throws with higher degrees of difficulty. Newton is 8 of 17 when targeting him, and Jones is 11 of 18. But with the way Agholor is able to get open with that footwork, he should be effective in short-area situations, too.

Rhamondre Stevenson had a 20-yard touchdown run in an early 11-on-11 rep.

Kristian Wilkerson’s drops have become an issue. He’s got six in team drills during training camp — no one else has more than two — along one in the preseason opener. He had three drops in the pair of joint workouts.

Mac Jones was 4-for-4 when targeting N’Keal Harry in the two joint practices, but Newton never targeted Harry either day. There’s a big gap in Harry’s production from quarterback to quarterback, at least as it relates to team periods. Newton is 4-for-11 when looking his way in camp and Jones is 14-for-18. If the Harry-Wilkerson battle is close and Newton is the starting quarterback, how much would his lack of production with Newton factor into the coaches’ decision?

Christian Barmore has worked his way into the starting rotation in Lawrence Guy’s absence, and the rookie absolutely looks the part.

Jalen Mills kicked inside in Jon Jones’ absence. Joejuan Williams started on the outside and might have an edge on Michael Jackson in the race for a roster spot.

Quinn Nordin closed practice by going 3-for-4 on field goal attempts. He made from 33, 40 and 44 yards before hooking it left from 46.

After working through punt periods Monday, the special teams periods Tuesday focused on kickoffs.Next up

The Patriots will have a closed walk-through Wednesday before their preseason game against the Eagles on Thursday. They will have two more open practices Aug. 25-26 at 10 a.m. with the Giants on the fields behind Gillette Stadium.

(Photo of Cam Newton: Brian Fluharty / USA Today)