The New England Patriots returned to the practice fields on Sunday after having a day off on Saturday following their first preseason game.
At the start of an important week of training – which includes a joint session with the Philadelphia Eagles – the team competed in full uniform and with referees for the first time this summer.
The following happened throughout the session.
participation
Absent: DL Christian Barmore, WR Kendrick Bourne (PUP), G Cole Strange (PUP), LB Sione Takitaki (PUP)
Limited: LB Joshua Uche, WR Tyquan Thornton, LS Joe Cardona, DB Joshuah Bledsoe
Injured: TE Hunter Henry
Non-participants: LB/S Marte Mapu, CB Marcus Jones, DE John Morgan*
*New addition
No big surprises on New England’s absentee list after they got through their first preseason game relatively healthy. The only new addition was DE John Morgan, who attended practice wearing a leg sleeve.
As for injuries, Hunter Henry left the gym in the middle of a practice with a trainer and never returned.
Findings
QB Snapshots: After Thursday’s season opener, in which Jacoby Brissett and Drake Maye had only one offensive series, Jerod Mayo said his two best quarterbacks would get more work this week.
He kept his word, as Brissett and Maye dominated reps in team periods today. In 11-on-11 games, Brissett got 23 reps and Maye got 26, while both made 10 plays in 7-on-7 games. Bailey Zappe and Joe Milton only played in one period of 11-on-11 plays and made 7-on-7 plays on the opposite court.
Maye and Jacoby: On a busy day, it was another promising day for the rookie QB. After a good start in 1v1, Maye continued his success in 11v1. His first period included two strong throws on a corner to Mitchell Wilcox, who was unable to catch the ball, and a throw on the run to Ja’Lynn Polk on a play-action kick.
Later in the day, Maye’s first attempt in a red area session was deflected into the air and intercepted by Armon Watts, but the freshman responded by throwing a 20-yard touchdown to La’Michael Pettway in the corner on the next play. Maye then finished the day with the only one-minute drive where he put the offense in field goal range after staying in the subzone and not throwing an incomplete pass. Overall, the freshman continued to make good decisions (including several missed throws) and showed off his physical ability. It’s time to put him in the starting offense.
For Brissett, it was a good day for the veteran after some early misses. He finished the day 10-of-12 in 11 seconds (one completion was perhaps a sack in live time) and connected with Douglas and Thornton multiple times. Brissett’s day then ended with two of his best passes in the red area – he hit Jalen Reagor on a corner in the end zone before rolling right and finding KJ Osborn in the back of the end zone.
Elsewhere at the QB position, Zappe and Milton combined to go 0-of-3 with three inaccurate passes in the lower red zone.
Pop Returns: DeMario Douglas shed his red jersey for non-contact passing on Sunday and continued to be a key factor in New England’s passing attack. In Brissett’s first quarter of the day, the quarterback’s first three completions all went to Douglas in the middle of the field. Douglas then caught another pass from Brissett on runs of 11 and 7 before hitting Maye twice on runs of 7.
Douglas also narrowly missed an explosive slot fade and was penalized for pass interference, continuing to be New England’s best and most consistent receiver throughout the offseason.
The kicking continues: The summer competition continued for Chad Ryland and Joey Slye on Sunday, this time with a remarkable twist. As each kicker lined up for his try, players and coaches surrounded him to make noise and provide a distraction – while the usual music blared in the background.
Ryland played from 37 to 52 yards, hitting 2 of 4 attempts, pushing his 48- and 52-yard attempts wide right. Slye, meanwhile, hit 3 of 4, with his only miss from 48 yards going wide left. Slye also added a 53-yard attempt in a hurry situation.
If you update the entire summer balance, Ryland with 28 out of 33 is still just ahead of Slye with 27 out of 33.
Other notes:
- The top offensive line remains a central aspect and the top unit remained intact, with Vederian Lowe taking over at left tackle and Chuks Okorafor at right tackle.
- Working alongside Douglas and with Brissett were primarily KJ Osborn and Jalen Reagor. Although limited, Tyquan Thornton worked for Reagor when he competed in 11-man tournaments.
- Austin Hooper and Mitchell Wilcox got more playing time with Henry out. Wilcox continues to struggle with catching and dropped the aforementioned Maye corner.
- Anfernee Jennings and Matthew Judon, who was actively involved, scored PBUs at the line of scrimmage – with Jennings’ lead leading to Watts’ interception.
- Another interception on the day came from Ja’Whaun Bentley in a one-on-one situation. A strong pass from Maye in the basket to Antonio Gibson on the sideline was botched before it landed in Bentley’s hands.
- Another strong unit from Bryce Baringer in the punting area with numerous balls hit inside the 20-yard line.
- Given the referees present, there appeared to be four penalties in full periods of play. These included a DPI on Isaiah Bolden covering Douglas, a holding on a run by Rhamondre Stevenson, and two consecutive penalties (one offensive, one defensive) on Mayes’ quick drive.
- Speaking of Bolden, he was more noticeable in the slot on Sunday while Marco Wilson and Alex Austin rotated opposite Christian Gonzalez.
New England will be back on the practice fields on Monday for its final practice session before the Eagles arrive. Practice begins at 11 a.m., with gates opening an hour earlier.
