FOXBORO — For the first time in two weeks of training camp, the Patriots tackled to the ground Monday.
They ran goal-line drills.
They labored for two-plus hours in full pads under a blazing sun unleashing 90-degree heat.
They practiced real football; punishing, physical, brutal football.
No surprise, defense won the day.
The Patriots offensive line generated little push up front over six 11-on-11 periods and lost the goal-line drill, a scripted effort by Jerod Mayo to ramp up ahead of Thursday’s preseason opener. Meanwhile, Jacoby Brissett and Drake Maye both tossed interceptions in team periods. Granted, neither happened under regular circumstances.
Brissett fired his interception trying to thread a 1-yard pass to Keion White, playing fullback, during the first goal-line drill of camp. Earlier, Maye ripped a tip-drill pick at undrafted rookie tight end Jacob Warren during an 11-on-11 session where only half of the defensive front rushed, and the other half took a knee. It was unclear why.
A strange day, but an important one for the Pats, who are now 10 practices into a heated summer. Their offense has demonstrated meaningful improvement, particularly with Brissett under center. But shaky offensive tackle depth may threaten to again undermine the development of a new system and select young players.
(Relatedly, Maye was often under duress and took snaps with a street free agent at left tackle and undrafted rookie at right for a second straight practice.)
Elsewhere, a young quarterback finally went deep, a speedy receiver returned, a rising defender left, the Pats drilled more kickoffs and Christian Gonzalez and Mike Onwenu starred in 1-on-1s.
Here are the Herald’s complete practice observations:
Returned: WR Tyquan Thornton, TE Jaheim Bell, OT Calvin Anderson
Absent: DL Christian Barmore
Non-participant: OT Chukwuma Okorafor, S/LB Marte Mapu, DB Marcus Jones, S Joshuah Bledsoe
Limited: Thornton, Bell
PUP: WR Kendrick Bourne, LB Sione Takitaki, OL Cole Strange, C/G Jake Andrews
Notes: Thornton and Anderson returned after one-day absences. Bell practiced in full pads for the first time this summer. Okorafor missed his second straight practice, whole Jones and Bledsoe sat out their third straight, respectively.
Mapu hasn’t practiced in a week and a half. Bourne continues to run and stretch with teammates at the beginning of practice, but has yet to participate in any positional or team drills. Cornerback Shaun Wade shed his red, non-contact jersey.
Bentley’s goal-line pick
The throw itself was basically a gift, thrown by Brissett and tipped by a teammate. But for a run-first inside linebacker, Ja’Whaun Bentley showed why his all-around instincts have him at the center of the Patriots’ defense.
At the snap of an 11-on-11 period, Bentley diagnosed play-action pass immediately and trailed newly converted fullback Keion White into the left flat. There, he not only jumped Jacoby Brissett’s throw, but beat safety Jabrill Peppers to the ball, caught it as he collided with Peppers and ran back for what would have been a lengthy interception return.
LB Ja’Whaun Bentley
After the interception, Bentley batted another pass down at the line in 11-on-11s for his second practice with multiple pass breakups in camp. The seventh-year linebacker has been a coverage liability in the past, but took significant strides two seasons ago. Could Bentley be primed for another jump in that area of his game?
Note: The passing stats below were tallied during competitive 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 periods only. The stats in parentheses represent the quarterbacks’ camp-long performance.
Jacoby Brissett: 10-of-13, INT (85-of-124 — 68.5%, 4 INTs, 12 sacks)
Drake Maye: 5-of-10, INT (72-of-120 — 60%, 3 INTs, 12 sacks)
Notes: The coaches’ practice script did the quarterbacks no favors, forcing regular tight-window throws during red-zone periods and goal-line drills. But that didn’t stop Brissett from another efficient day.
He fired the only touchdown pass in the dozen snaps of 11-on-11 red-zone work early in practice, finding Tyquan Thornton on an in-breaking route versus Christian Gonzalez. Brissett then completed all four passes, including a couple to Hunter Henry, over an ensuing 11-on-11 drill with the aforementioned reduced pass rush gave it almost a feel of 7-on-7s. After firing a pick at the goal line, Brissett rebounded with a 4-of-6 finish, finding Henry twice, Ja’Lynn Polk on an out route and Pop Douglas.
As for Maye, he opened with three dropbacks over two periods, hitting a checkdown and scrambling twice. The latter, on a fourth-and-2 snap during low red-zone work, may have resulted in a touchdown and was a sound decision, recognizing his initial reads (slant and flat routes on the same side) were covered. In the adjusted 11-on-11 period, Maye went 3-of-4 with an interception he ripped slightly high, and two completions to backup tight end Mitchell Wilcox.
Next, Maye got the defense to jump offside, and after a stuffed Kevin Harris run, rifled three straight incompletions. The first was a catchable deep ball K.J. Osborn misjudged 40 yards downfield and led into a broken up stop-route pass for Wilcox. On his final attempt, Maye launched another go ball, this time overshooting Javon Baker down the left sideline with Gonzalez in tight coverage.
Running the third-string offense against the third-team defense for his final three snaps, Maye finished with a hand-off, short completion to Warren and a sack no player could escape. Just before that period, fellow rookie Joe Milton capped his day going 4-of-7, mostly alongside third-stringers as he again alternated team periods with Bailey Zappe (2-of-3).
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OL Mike Onwenu
The Patriots' best offensive lineman -- and perhaps best offensive player -- went undefeated in 1-on-1 pass rush drills, stonewalling Keion White twice and handling defensive tackle Daniel Ekuale. Onwenu, again, took all of his snaps in team periods inside at guard, where running backs enjoyed their longest runs of practice.
TE Hunter Henry
Following his best practice of camp last Saturday, when he made a spectacular one-handed grab, Henry secured all four targets in team periods Monday. He remains a go-to target for Brissett early in practice and on money downs.
CB Mikey Victor
An undrafted rookie out of Alabama State, Victor looked like he belonged on an NFL roster Monday. He knocked away a fade pass into the end zone during 11-on-11s and going 2-1 during individual drills. Only Gonzalez out-performed him in 1-on-1 coverage drills.
WR Javon Baker
Baker did win two of his three 1-on-1 reps, twice facing likely cut candidate Azizi Hearn, but failed to record a catch in team periods. Victor denied him on a fade route, then Baker failed to get both feet inbounds on a comeback route working with Joe Milton and Maye overthrew him deep. Baker has lost multiple catches in team drills because he's been unable to tap both feet inbounds.
RB Terrell Jennings
The fifth running back out of five on the Patriots' roster, Jennings did himself no favors by committing the only drop of practice.
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