New England Patriots Training Camp Day 5: Thoughts on Ras-I Dowling's Slow Start

The New England Patriots announced the signings of draft picks Ras-I Dowling and Shane Vereen on Tuesday afternoon, shortly before kicking off practice.

Needless to say, those two were the focus of the practice, which ran from 1:30 to 4:30 at the practice field at Gillette Stadium.

Dowling looked okay in one-on-one drills, holding his own against Julian Edelman with a nice jam off the "snap." On the next rep, Edelman used a nice quick cut to get past the rookie.

In 11-on-11 drills, it was a different story. Dowling looked solid against lesser competition, with nice coverage on Matthew Slater, but was beat consistently by Chad Ochocinco and Deion Branch in separate drills.

There were flashes, like one particular play where Dowling broke up a pass intended for Ochocinco during red-zone drills and a few others, including a couple on special teams. Other than that, it was a rough outing.

Don't read too much into it, though. For the most part, he was being beat up on by highly-experienced and talented veteran receivers. Ochocinco and Branch are no slouches and certainly would make difficult opponents for any cornerback in their first practice.

Also factor in the fact that Dowling has yet to practice in any capacity, with the exclusion of OTAs this offseason.

Devin McCourty also got off to a slow start in training camp last year, but obviously found his sea legs by the time the regular season began. He, however, didn't have to fight the same uphill battle of a shortened offseason program that Dowling is currently battling.

There is still plenty of time before the season begins, but this is just indicative of the difficulty rookies are facing as a result of the lockout.

Erik Frenz is the co-host of the PatsPropaganda and Frenz podcast. Follow Erik on Twitter @erikfrenz.