FOXBORO — The Patriots are done easing into training camp.

It’s time for real football.

On the eve of their first padded practice, the Pats worked for two full hours Sunday, their longest and most competitive practice of the summer. No surprise, defense won the day.

But before Matthew Judon and Co. dominated team periods, the Patriots’ young pass-catchers finally flashed. Javon Baker badly beat Christian Gonzalez, the Pats’ best corner, for a reception in 1-on-1 coverage drills. Later, Baker collected an over-the-shoulder grab at full speed to clinch the play of the day.

Kayshon Boutte bested Gonzalez, too, for a disputed catch deep downfield in the same still. Seventh-round rookie tight end Jaheim Bell also extended for a 1-handed effort over safety Kyle Dugger during 1-on-1s, and second-round rookie receiver Ja’Lynn Polk pocketed three receptions in team periods.

As the Patriots continue to install a new offense, with a new coordinator, at times shaky rookie quarterback and talent-starved offensive line, these are the moments they will point to as progress. Monday’s padded practice will bring the team’s most telling look at how the 2024 Patriots are developing, who they are and who they could be. Until then, their coaches and front office will study practice tape like Sunday’s, determining whether these flashes are peeks into their future or mirages born from the summer heat.

Elsewhere at practice, Drake Maye had a couple pre-snap snafus, the Pats stuck with a rookie at left tackle, a veteran D-linemen swatted two passes and a new weapon made his practice debut.

Here are the Herald’s complete practice observations:

Returned: RB Antonio Gibson

Absent: DL Christian Barmore, S/LB Marte Mapu

Limited: WR DeMario Douglas

Non-contact jersey: CB Shaun Wade

PUP: WR Kendrick Bourne, LB Sione Takitaki, OL Cole Strange, C/G Jake Andrews

Notes: Hello, Antonio!

Veteran running back Antonio Gibson was a full participant for the first time this summer. Starting slot receiver DeMario Douglas confirmed he is dealing with a minor hand injury, which has thus far kept him out of team drills. The team is proceeding cautiously with Douglas, who otherwise hasn’t been limited.

For a second straight practice, Barmore was a non-participant, and Mapu walked into practice 20 minutes after it started just to watch drills. Shaun Wade remains in a non-contact jersey. Kendrick Bourne appeared on-field in a practice jersey and participated in stretching, but was not involved in any positional work or team periods.

Javon Baker goes Willie Mays

It was one thing for Javon Baker to gain yards of separation upon exploding off the line. It was another for him to track a deep sideline throw and stay in bounds.

But it was an entirely a third thing, an almost foreign experience for any regular observer of the Patriots’ wide receivers, to see Baker angle left at full speed, neck bent toward the sky, and shoot his arms out at the last second to cradle an over-the-shoulder grab for a 40-yard gain. Baker showed a complete package of receiving skills on the play, the undisputed highlight of training camp.

DL Deatrich Wise

Beware No. 91.

Two practices after notching a clean sack of Jacoby Brissett in team periods, Wise batted one of Brissett’s passes down Sunday and gave the same treatment to rookie quarterback Joe Milton. Wise is not starting with the top unit, but he’s performed like one of the Patriots’ best defenders in training camp. No one else has recorded a sack and pass deflection this summer.

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: 7-of-13, sack (39-of-55, INT, 5 sacks)

Drake Maye: 11-of-16, sack (43-of-60, INT, 3 sacks)

Notes: Drake Maye had to reset and re-huddle before taking his snap of 7-on-7s. Maye, in fact, had two procedural errors Sunday, including another one during 11-on-11s. It’s unclear what the source of the error was, but Maye has now had two straight practices with pre-snap issues called out by the coaching staff. In the same opening 7-on-7 period, he took a “sack,” for taking too long to find a target.

After going 2-of-3 in that drill, Maye went 3-of-4 in a full-team setting, hitting completions on an out route to Ja’Lynn Polk, shallow cross to Javon Baker and curl route run by backup tight end La’Michael Pettway. He then went 3-of-4 during another 7-on-7 session, with a nice dig-route completion to K.J. Osborn, and finished by completing 60% of his passes in a brief full-team period.

Overall, Maye’s 11-of-16 stat line belies another conservative practice including errors that may have led to penalties in a game setting. During team periods, Maye completed just a single pass more than 10 yards downfield; marking the second time that’s happened in four practices. Downfield aggression and the general evenness in their play are the greatest differences between Brissett and Maye right now.

TE Austin Hooper

Hooper overcame an early drop in 1-on-1s to secure four of five targets in team periods. One catch was a leaping, twisting grab on an extended play that ended with him out-fighting Kyle Dugger for possession and a 30-plus-yard gain. Hooper had maintained maximum effort on the play, which ended with Jacoby Brissett rolling right and launching a deep ball down the right sideline once he spotted Hooper having multiple steps on his man.

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CBs Marcus Jones/Azizi Hearn

One of the quarterbacks' favorite corners to pick on pushed back in a major way, going 3-1 during 1-on-1 coverage drills and tallying a pass breakup during team periods. Hearn remains a long shot to make the roster, but he earned high marks Sunday.

Meanwhile, Jones went 3-0 in individual drills and also added a pass deflection. During 1-on-1s, he stripped the ball late from undrafted rookie David Wallis for a fumble, underscoring the importance of fighting to the end of a play.

WR JuJu Smith-Schuster

Smith-Schuster's caught three passes in team drills through four days, and his only target Sunday got knocked away from behind. He went 1-2 during 1-on-1s. Despite having an offseason to rest his ailing knee, Smith-Schuster has struggled to separate at any level, and it's becoming harder to envision him making a significant, positive impact on this year's team.

WR K.J. Osborn

It's been a roller-coaster camp so far with Osborn, who saw his only target get intercepted on Day 1, then caught a couple passes in team periods on Day 2, doubled that total on Day 3 and went 1-of-4 on targets Sunday, including one that was broken up. He looks every bit the part of a No. 3 receiver being asked to do too much, but there's still time.

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