CHESTNUT HILL — A few quick notes from this morning’s players-only workout with the Patriots at Boston College. The media could only see a small slice of the action from between the bars (check out our view here), but here are a few nuggets worth passing along:

•Quarterback Ryan Mallett looked a bit uneven (translation: he’s a rookie). He drilled one into the ground at one point, but also unleashed a hellacious bomb down one sideline that hit Matthew Slater in full stride for what appeared to be a connection of at least 50 yards. Sweet ball.

•On offense, Brady is running the show. (We noted that here yesterday.) He even shut down Brian Hoyer less than 15 seconds into an interview with some of the media. On defense, it appeared that linebacker Jerod Mayo and defensive lineman Ty Warren were making the calls and directing players when it came to the defensive drills.

•It’s always difficult to tell in that environment, but Kevin Faulk surely looks like a guy who intends on playing in 2011. The veteran running back, who suffered a nasty knee injury last September, was moving cleanly and smoothly throughout the session, and looked to be his usual sure-handed self when it came to catching passes out of the backfield.

•Warren has lost some weight. Whether that’s because he spent a year away from the game or what we’re not sure, but the big fella looks noticeably slimmer.

•Rookie cornerback Ras-I Dowling isn’t especially tall, but will certainly stand out as such when measured against the rest of the New England defensive backs, who are on the short side.

•As we previously stated, the whole affair — which wrapped up in about 90 minutes — had the feel of a June T-shirt and shorts affair held behind Gillette Stadium. Not quite as slow as a walkthrough and not quite a haf-speed practice, we’ll call it almost quarter-speed. The players had a chance to work up a bit of a sweat (mostly during the 7-on-7s and two-minute sessions toward the end of practice), but in truth, it was more a chance to get back to football-related activity.