FOXBORO — Two snaps.
That’s all it took over a drizzly Monday afternoon practice for the Patriots offense to again remind viewers of its shaky foundation. Whatever plays Bill O’Brien might design on the white board or passes Mac Jones may fire from the pocket or upgrades the front office probably made at wide receiver and tight end, the offensive line remains suspect. And until the Pats can block consistently, problems will persist.
The Patriots’ starting defense “sacked” Jones on his second snap of live team drills, when defensive tackle Davon Godchaux burst through the middle of the line like the Kool-Aid man. Jones received a nice reprieve in the next period, when they faced the Patriots’ third-string defense and took turns dicing it up with Bailey Zappe. But when the starting defense met them again inside the red zone, and later over ensuing two-minute drills, the offense stalled.
Why?
The offensive line allowed Jones and Zappe to be sacked a combined six times and drew four flags, with the referees for Thursday’s preseason opener on-hand to officiate practice. The running game went nowhere, and the progress shown last week began to feel like it was being washed away by an intermittent rain. The questions of when starting left tackle Trent Brown, left guard Cole Strange and right guard Mike Onwenu will return from their respective injuries can’t be answered soon enough.
Elsewhere, defensive tackle Christian Barmore pulled off the pass rush move of camp, the wide receivers remained a mixed bag, rookie quarterback/wide receiver Malik Cunningham put on a show, Marcus Jones snatched an interception and the kicking competition beat on.
Here are the Herald’s complete practice observations.
Returned: C David Andrews
Absent: CB Jonathan Jones, C David Andrews, OL Cole Strange, ST Matthew Slater, RB/WR Ty Montgomery, OL Bill Murray
Limited: OT Trent Brown
Non-contact jersey: LB/S Marte Mapu, TE Johnny Lumpkin
PUP: OL Mike Onwenu, S Cody Davis
Non-Football Illness: OT Calvin Anderson
Notes: Andrews returned after a one-day absence. Jonathan Jones and Slater have now missed three straight practices. Murray sat out his first. Montgomery has been out for close to two weeks, while Strange is closing in on one. He watched the late stages of practice from the sideline with Anderson, who was in street clothes.
Brown did not participate in team drills or wear full pads, though he did don shoulder pads and carry his helmet around after engaging in individual drills.
Boutte has pulled down as many, if not more, highlight grabs than any other receiver since the start of last week. His total catches and targets continue to trail the other wideouts, but with more plays like the one he made Monday, that could change.
On a rollout play-action pass, Boutte found himself all alone on the right side of the end zone, as undrafted rookie Malik Cunningham (playing his listed quarterback position) sailed the ball a couple feet over his head. Boutte, though, had no trouble slowing his momentum, shooting one arm skyward and snaring the pass before tumbling backwards. Good catch, great play.
The only player to notch two sacks in team drills, Wise reached Mac Jones twice in the same period. He sniffed out a tight end screen on the opening snap of red-zone work, then knifed inside the pocket to kill another play.
Wise also went 2-0-1 during individual pass rush. He beat fourth-round rookie Sidy Sow, fifth-round rookie Atonio Mafi and tied projected starting right tackle Riley Reiff.
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.
Before Davon Godchaux “sacked” Mac Jones in 11-on-11s, Jack Jones swatted away the quarterback’s first pass. He jumped JuJu Smith-Schuster’s curl route along the right sideline and knocked it away, despite wearing large, flat mitts worn to prevent defensive holding and pass interference. He also earned a pass breakup at the start of 1-on-1 drills while defending Kendrick Bourne.
The veteran kicker went 5-for-6 attempting field goals of 43 yards or more. He missed from 47, but also hit from that distance and 50 yards away. Fourth-round rookie Chad Ryland remains the heavy favorite to win the starting job, but Folk isn’t going away just yet.
The Patriots’ projected No. 1 receiver hardly looked like it Monday, dropping one pass during 1-on-1 drills and letting another get batted away. He only caught just two of four passes in 11-on-11s periods, with both incompletions resulting from poor separation.
Rough day for the rookie.
Sow, a college guard, continues to play right tackle in team periods and got beat for two sacks. Perhaps even worse, he went 0-3 during individual pass rush. Due to various injuries, he’s been repping as the Patirots’ second-team right tackle, though it’s fair to wonder how much longer that will last.
