FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Two days removed from their preseason loss to the Philadephia Eagles, the New Enlgand Patriots on Saturday dialed back the intensity for a short, non-padded practice.
The 90-minute session basically was a glorified walkthrough, but it still offered noteworthy developments on New England’s quarterback competition.
Let’s get into everything we saw on Day 15 of Patriots training camp.
Patriots Practice Observations for Saturday, Aug. 17
Attire
Helmets and shells. Some players appeared to be wearing more pads than others.
Attendance
The following players were absent from practice:
- LB Sione Takitaki (PUP)
- OL Cole Strange (PUP)
- TE Hunter Henry
- DT Christian Barmore
- S/LB Marte Mapu
- WR Kendrick Bourne
- CB Shaun Wade
- OT Calvin Anderson
- C Nick Leverett
- LB Oshane Ximines
- LB Joshua Uche
Henry missed his third consecutive practice after suffering an apparent leg/foot injury on Sunday. He watched practice in street clothes.
Uche, Anderson, and Ximines both missed practice after playing in Thursday’s preseason loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Leverett missed his first practice of the summer.
Barmore, who recently was diagnosed with blood clots, remains sidelined and without a timetable for return. There’s a real chance he will sit out the entire season.
Mapu hasn’t practiced since the start of camp. He’s watched in street clothes each day, and his injury situation remains a mystery.
Strange continues to rehab from a torn patellar tendon suffered late last season. He might sit out half the 2024 season, if not the entire campaign.
Bourne, who’s rehabbing a torn ACL, didn’t participate but watched practice in street clothes.
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Takitaki is still recovering from an offseason knee scope, according to ESPN’s Mike Reiss. The veteran linebacker previously said he wouldn’t miss a single day of camp, but he’s yet to appear in a single practice
Here are some additional injury notes:
- Jonathan Jones and Marcus Jones returned both fully participated after missing recent practices.
- Bourne, Wade, Anderson, and Takitaki worked out on the lower rehab field.
- Mapu worked also worked on the lower field, possibly for the first time this summer.
- Austin Hooper appeared to suffer a leg injury late in practice.
Offensive Line Thrown Into a Blender
The Patriots’ top offensive line remained unchanged: Vederian Lowe (left tackle), Sidy Sow (left guard), David Andrews (center), Mike Onwenu (right guard), and Chukwuma Okorafor (right tackle).
However, with the O-line’s camp-long struggles a lingering issue, the Patriots switched up combinations in a big way on Saturday.
Caedan Wallace and Layden Robinson mixed in as the top right tackle and left guard, respectively. Michael Jordan also saw first-team reps at right guard, and Liam Fornadel saw increased reps at center with Leverett sidelined. Okorafor saw work at left tackle for the first time in a while.
Notably, Mike Onwenu saw reps at right tackle for the first time this summer, including multiple series with Drake Maye. It’s unclear whether those reps were a product of Anderson missing practice.
After practice, Wallace said Patriots coaches told O-linemen they’d test new combinations. He also said he viewed his first-unit reps as an opportunity and expected to see similar rotations in the next fully padded practice.
It’s best not to read too much into what happened during this practice, as it was run mostly at half speed. Let’s see what happens on Sunday.
Patriots’ QB Training Camp Battle | Day 15
(Note: I don’t track quarterback stats when the offense is working off cards.)
Jacoby Brissett
11-on-11s: 4-for-4, one sack
7-on-7s: 3-for-4
Most team periods during Saturday’s practice were non-competitive, with Brissett and Maye each seeing one competitive 11-on-11 period and one competitive 7-on-7 period. And even those weren’t full speed.
Nevertheless, Brissett was solid and made some decent throws after struggling mightily in the Eagles game. He saw all the first-team reps that mattered.
Drake Maye
11-on-11s: 4-for-4
7-on-7s: 4-for-4
So, would the Patriots finally rep Maye with the first-team O-line after his encouraging performance against the Eagles? Well, kind of.
Maye repped with the top O-line during a non-competitive 11-on-11 period at the end of practice. It marked the first time he’d received snaps from David Andrews since the start of training camp.
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However, Maye repped with projected starters during his lone competitive 1-on-1 period. Okorafor, Sow, and Onwenu all saw time with Maye during that series, with Onwenu’s reps coming at right tackle.
Is that a sign of things to come? We’ll find out on Sunday.
As for his actual performance, Maye played well and seemed more confident than in recent practices. Perhaps the tide is turning.
Joe Milton III
11-on-11s: 0-for-1, one interception
7-on-7s: zero reps
Milton saw just three competitive reps, and his only pass resulted in an A.J. Thomas interception. It was a bad throw that was undercut by Thomas, who might’ve gone to the house in a real game.
Bailey Zappe
11-on-11s: zero reps
7-on-7s: zero reps
Zappe saw a few non-competitive 7-on-7 reps early in practice — but that was it. It’ll be interesting to see whether he’s still on the roster by the time the Patriots visit the Washington Commanders next Sunday.
Best and Worst Performances From Day 15 of Patriots Training Camp
WR DeMario Douglas | STUD
The dynamic slot receiver finished with three catches in competitive periods but had more during half-speed drills. He continues to be the most consistent and dangerous receiver on the offense.
QB Drake Maye | STUD
This is a purely subjective take, but Maye just looked more confident and comfortable than in previous practices. It might be fair to say that his performance against the Eagles could be a launching point for a late-August surge.
Maye is still a long shot to start Week 1, but he’s gaining ground on Brissett.
Kevin Harris | STUD
The third-year running delivered the play of the day: an excellent over-the-shoulder catch on a 30-yard dime from Maye.
Harris has been up and down this summer, but he’s making a compelling case to earn a roster spot as the top backup running back.
QB Joe Milton | DUD
When your one pass is intercepted, you land in the “dud” section. That’s just the way it is.
WR Javon Baker | DUD
After struggling in the joint practice and dropping a deep ball in the preseason loss, Baker repped with the third-team offense and didn’t make any catches in competitive periods. He’s on a cold streak.
Assorted Patriots’ Notes and Highlights From Day 15 of Camp
- This was the first practice closed to fans, with only credentialed media allowed to watch.
- This was Lowe’s eighth consecutive practice as the top left tackle, where he also started in both preseason games. He appears entrenched as the top LT.
- I can’t stress enough how useless this practice was from a performance standpoint. It seemed like coaches wanted players to stretch their legs and correct some errors from the Eagles game before getting back to work on Sunday.
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- At one point, Jerod Mayo cut the music and told coaches not to help players with substitutions, which were sloppy in recent practices.
- Here are additional highlights from Saturday’s practice. The Patriots will return to the field on Sunday morning.
Saturday vibes 🔥@chrisgonzo28 | @popshotta3 pic.twitter.com/2ikvzSRK2L
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) August 17, 2024
Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker working on tracking the ball over their shoulder pic.twitter.com/I1MPlPxcwW
— Alex Barth (@RealAlexBarth) August 17, 2024
