FOXBORO — On the first day of Patriots training camp, quarterback Mac Jones raved about how valuable it is to compete against such a quality defense in practice.
That defense — which lost just one starter from last season — was one of the NFL’s best in 2022, and they make things exceptionally difficult for Jones and the offense on a day-to-day basis.
The offense is starting to return the favor.
The Patriots had their best practice of the summer Wednesday as Jones completed 13-of-14 passes with highlight touchdown throws to wide receivers DeVante Parker and JuJu Smith-Schuster. The Patriots’ offense dominated 1-on-1 drills between wide receivers and cornerbacks. And the tone is starting to shift to how difficult Bill O’Brien and the offense are making things on the defense.
“Variety,” Patriots safety Adrian Phillips said when describing what O’Brien brings to the offense. “We never see the same thing twice. It’s a lot of variety. (O’Brien) has a lot of different guys in different spots, and he uses them to the best of their ability, and he just dials it up. And you can also tell that obviously, he’s watching film on the defense, too.
“When he sees us make a check on defense, the next day he might come out and throw a little wrinkle in there.”
The Patriots focused heavily on red-zone work early in training camp, and the offense struggled to find space against a defense that’s known for being versatile and multiple.
The unit is clearly getting more comfortable working against their defense, however, as evidenced by Wednesday’s showing.
“It takes time,” Smith-Schuster said. “There’s always room for improvement. I would say last week, the past days and weeks, we’ve been installing new plays, and now we’re finally being able to go out there and we pretty much know what we know and we master it.
“So, this week, it was kind of like a review week. We’re stacking good days. And going into next week and the following weeks, we’ve just got to keep dialing in and mastering these plays.”
O’Brien’s offense features far more motion and optionality than last year’s simplistic system led by inexperienced offensive coaches Matt Patricia and Joe Judge. That movement before and after the snap has forced the Patriots defense to read and react on an almost play-by-play basis early in camp. The Patriots’ defense dominated Jones and the offense early, forcing a completion percentage under 50 percent through the first three sessions of the summer. Jones has completed over 75 percent of his passes through the last four days, however.
“When you start adding shifts and motion, the hard counts, all of that stuff, it makes it that much harder,” Phillips said. “It makes the communication that much more vital because if you don’t comm then you’ve got people popping up 40 yards down the field.”
Jones’ favorite targets early in camp have been Parker, Smith-Schuster and tight end Hunter Henry. Wide receivers Kendrick Bourne and Tyquan Thornton have gotten out to slower starts, while Jones is starting to target tight end Mike Gesicki more in recent sessions.
“It’s fun,” Henry said. “So we’re getting a lot thrown at us, and we’re trying to throw a lot at our defense, too. It’s kind of a daily battle of who’s going to get to who.”