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Boston Herald
Boston Herald
12 Aug 2024
Andrew Callahan


NextImg:Patriots training camp Day 13: Drake Maye and Co. prep for Eagles practice, are they ready?

FOXBORO — The most telling practice of Patriots training camp is coming Tuesday.

The Eagles will land at 10:30 a.m., ready to pound their hosts in every drill and period of a joint practice. For two hours, and maybe more, the Pats will measure themselves against an NFC contender; pressure falling on their first-year coach, rookie quarterback, shaky offensive line and sturdy defense.

How will they respond?

To prepare, Jerod Mayo took it easy Monday. The Patriots wrapped their latest practice after 90 minutes, the shortest since the dawn of camp. Players were not in pads. They did not compete in 1-on-1 drills. The first and last team periods were non-competitive.

In between, training camp looked familiar. Offensively, the Patriots struggled to run the ball, had two false starts, a holding penalty and another procedural error, while Jacoby Brissett took all of the starting quarterback reps ahead of Drake Maye. As for the rookie, he lasered a couple nice touchdown passes during red-zone work around a few bad misfires.

Elsewhere, a full NFL crew officiated practice again, the entire defensive roster and coaching staff took a lap for two undisclosed errors, Pop Douglas led the team in catches again, Ja’Lynn Polk had a big grab, another trusted target was missing and four different defenders broke up passes.

Here are the Herald’s complete practice observations:

Jonathan Jones #31 of the New England Patriots walks off the field with a young girl during training camp at Gillette Stadium. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

Jonathan Jones #31 of the New England Patriots walks off the field with a young girl during training camp at Gillette Stadium. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

Absent: DL Christian Barmore, TE Hunter Henry, DB Jonathan Jones, DB Marcus Jones, S Marte Mapu, CB Shaun Wade, OLB John Morgan

PUP: WR Kendrick Bourne, LB Sione Takitaki, OL Cole Strange

Notes: Starting cornerback Jonathan Jones, once the glue of a hurting Patriots secondary in camp, missed a second straight practice and hasn’t been a full participant now for a full week. He appeared late in practice, while Henry was absent after leaving Sunday’s practice with an apparent injury. Wade, who wore a non-contact jersey earlier in camp, continues to endure a tough-luck summer. Mapu has been out for two weeks, while Marcus Jones hit 10 days without practicing.

Jalen Reagor sneaks a touchdown

Patriots wide receivers Ja'Lynn Polk, left, and Jalen Reagor learn a new handshake during training camp. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

Patriots wide receivers Ja’Lynn Polk, left, and Jalen Reagor learn a new handshake during training camp. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

At the end of a tough red-zone period, Jaboby Brissett looked middle, then left and finally panned back to his right.

Bingo.

Taking his penultimate snap of 11-on-11s, Brissett lofted a pass to the back right pylon, as Jalen Reagor sped across the back line of the end zone with Christian Gonzalez trailing inches behind. Reagor met the ball on time and stopped juuuuust before reaching the sideline. Toe-tap, touchdown.

WR DeMario Douglas

Pop goes back-to-back.

After blowing all other receivers away in Sunday’s practice — when he made seven catches — Douglas led again with a tidy four on Monday. He caught all of his targets, seeing passes from Maye and Brissett. At one point, he was responsible for half of the Patriots’ catches in initial team drills.

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye #10 gets ready to throw the ball during training camp at Gillette Stadium. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye #10 gets ready to throw the ball during training camp at Gillette Stadium. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

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: 6-of-12 (119-of-178 — 66.8%, 4 INTs, 17 sacks)

Drake Maye: 7-of-13 (102-of-172 — 59.3%, 5 INTs, 12 sacks)

Notes: Only three competitive team periods left Brissett and Maye mirroring each other for most of the day with a decent 7-on-7 period, followed by a sharp, full-field 11-on-11 drill, then a red-zone 11-on-11 period, where both struggled.

To start, Maye fired one of his best passes of camp early Monday, squeezing a 10-yard touchdown to Javon Baker between trailing corner Marcellas Dial and closing safety Brenden Schooler. Baker had run an in-breaking route that depended on his read of the safety, and as Maye made the same read, he showed serious anticipation with a pinpoint throw.

In that same 7-on-7 session, Brissett (2-of-5) tossed a touchdown to Tyquan Thornton around a couple overthrows, and both quarterbacks hit DeMario Douglas underneath. Maye (3-of-6) also misfired twice for Jalen Reagor, including his initial throw that appeared to go wide due to a miscommunication. His last completion was a sharp throw to fellow rookie Jaheim Bell.

In the sharper 11-on-11 period, Brissett completed all three passes, finding Douglas twice and tight end Austin Hooper once, all on underneath routes. Maye went 3-of-4, making a check at the line before an opening hand-off, completing two screens and having another get busted. On his final rep, preceded by a full penalty lap for the defense and an offensive false start, Maye rolled right to escape pressure and found Reagor on a crossing route; a nice display of his creativity and second-reaction ability.

To close, Brissett missed K.J. Osborn and Thornton in the end zone, before striking for the Play of the Day with Reagor and having his last throw batted down over the middle. Maye followed with a wild miss on a checkdown under pressure from Anfernee Jennings, an incomplete fade route to Javon Baker and rolling touchdown to Ja’Lynn Polk on a well-executed pick-route design that left Polk all alone in the right flat.

Patriots’ best 53-man roster competition is at cornerback, not wide receiver

S Jaylinn Hawkins

The veteran safety didn't allow a catch in single coverage, forcing a high incompletion in the red zone while blanketing tight end Austin Hooper and then ranging over in time to halt a double-move Jalen Reagor nearly ran for a touchdown. Hawkins also worked as the lone, single-high safety in early team periods, a sign of the coaches' trust in him to coordinate the secondary.

WR Jalen Reagor

Reagor caught just half of his four targets during team periods, but one went for a stellar touchdown against Gonzalez and the other helped Maye find an outlet against pressure. One of the incompletions in his direction may also have been Maye's fault, as Reagor sat down against zone coverage while Maye fired wide, apparently expecting him to double back on a return route.

Patriots’ defensive coordinator hoping to ‘dominate’ Eagles in joint practice

CB Alex Austin

Austin was flagged for two penalties in the first 7-on-7 period, including a hold of Tyquan Thornton that didn't prevent him from scoring a touchdown. His second penalty was for pass interference.

QB Joe Milton

Milton finished his day on a hard note, taking two would-be sacks, throwing a tip-drill interception and scrambling once for what may have been a third sack. The sixth-round rookie's only positive play was a deep throw to Ja'Lynn Polk, who ripped down the catch on a 50/50 ball.

Foxboro, MA - New England Patriots wide receiver DeMario Douglas runs through warmups during training camp at Gillette Stadium. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

Foxboro, MA - New England Patriots wide receiver DeMario Douglas runs through warmups during training camp at Gillette Stadium. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

Patriots extra points: Young receiver has ‘not a doubt’ he’ll make the team

Foxboro, MA - Matthew Judon watches as Joshuah Bledsoe runs through a drill during Patriots training camp. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

Foxboro, MA - Matthew Judon watches as Joshuah Bledsoe runs through a drill during Patriots training camp. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

Anfernee Jennings #33 of the New England Patriots cleans up his sweaty helmet during training camp at Gillette Stadium. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

Anfernee Jennings #33 of the New England Patriots cleans up his sweaty helmet during training camp at Gillette Stadium. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)