FOXBORO — Before Friday, Matthew Judon had never joined a padded Patriots practice during a contract dispute.
He practiced on a limited basis last summer — but never in pads — while his agent negotiated with Bill Belichick’s front office and ultimately reached terms on a new deal Aug. 4. This summer, Judon participated in every practice until last Monday, when he arrived in street clothes, left, returned to give the Patriots’ new personnel heads an earful and left again.
Once Judon failed to report Tuesday, it gave reason to wonder whether the four-time Pro Bowler would be seen again until a new deal was struck or he got traded. Instead, time seems — at least temporarily — to have healed Judon’s wounds while the two sides continue to seek an extension.
Judon was a full participant Friday, working in pads, individual drills and team periods over a two-hour practice where temperatures climbed into the mid-90s. His presence was the biggest story at training camp, even while the Patriots’ passing offense soared on its sharpest day of the summer.
For that progress, the Pats can mostly thank one player: DeMario Douglas.
Elsewhere at practice, Drake Maye stacked another good day, an offensive tackle overcame injury, the tight ends had butterfingers, two young cornerbacks keep flashing and Chad Ryland began to pull away with the kicking competition.
Here are the Herald’s complete practice observations:
Absent: DL Christian Barmore
Non-participant: DB Marcus Jones, S/LB Marte Mapu, S Joshuah Bledsoe
Limited: C David Andrews
Returned: S Jabrill Peppers
Non-contact jersey: WR DeMario Douglas
PUP: WR Kendrick Bourne, LB Sione Takitaki, OL Cole Strange, C/G Jake Andrews
Notes: While Peppers returned, two other defensive backs — Jones and Bledsoe — missed their first day of practice, respectively. Like Mapu, both players watched drills from the sidelines in street clothes. Mapu practiced in more than a week. Andrews participated in the start of team drills, then ceded first-team snaps to new backup Nick Leverett.
Douglas’ two-minute drill touchdown
When in doubt, find Pop.
With less than 10 seconds left in his closing two-minute drill, Jacoby Brissett ripped a seam pass through zone coverage and found DeMario Douglas for a touchdown. The throw covered roughly 20 yards, mirroring a connection the pair had during a prior 7-on-7 period. But this touchdown undoubtedly meant more: it not only capped a successful 11-play drive, but the best passing practice of training camp thus far.
WR DeMario Douglas
Recovering from a minor hand injury, Douglas returned to team periods Thursday. On Friday, he returned to form.
The 5-foot-8 jitterbug led all Patriots pass-catchers with five receptions in team drills, including a couple touchdowns. He won deep, over the middle and on out-breaking routes. Douglas’ ability to separate instantly and threaten man-coverage made a world of difference for Brissett and Drake Maye.
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: 16-of-26 (64-of-93, INT, 11 sacks)
Drake Maye: 10-of-14 (61-of-96, 2 INTs, 7 sacks)
Notes: One of the best practices for each quarterback this summer, and Maye’s best in pads. No question.
Patriots QB Drake Maye has best padded practice of young NFL career
Brissett led the starting offense on an 11-play touchdown drive during the final 11-on-11 period, a two-minute drill run he operated with game-like urgency and proper clock management. Overall, Brissett completed 12 of 21 passes in 11-on-11s, including a couple drops, three intermediate-to-deep completions to Douglas and a key downfield strike to Hunter Henry late in the two-minute drill. Brissett also went 4-of-5 during red-zone 7-on-7s, hitting "touchdowns" to Douglas, Osborn and Jalen Reagor.
As for Maye, he continues to live within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage no matter the setting. Of his 10 completions, two traveled longer than 10 yards through the air. He did not run a two-minute drill, but passed with better accuracy than he did earlier this week and kept his calm. In 7-on-7s, Maye's creativity flashed, rolling right and whipping touchdown darts to Kayshon Boutte in front of the right pylon, then backup tight end La'Michael Pettway as he ran left to right across the heart of the end zone.
Maye addressed his overall conservative style after practice, saying: "Just trying to be smart with (the ball). I feel like I throw the football well down the field and still don’t feel I’ve really aired it out yet, but I think it's coming.“
One final stat of note: zero, as in the number of sacks Brissett and Maye combined for Friday. The first time that's happened all camp.
LG Sidy Sow
The second-year lineman has taken every snap with the first-team offense at left guard in training camp and scored a win and a tie working against Keion White during 1-on-1 pass rush Friday. Sow has been one of the few reliable players for an offensive line in flux, and appears primed to build on a strong half of his rookie season.
S Jaylinn Hawkins
Hawkins continues to show he belongs in the Patriots' safety rotation as a No. 3 or No. 4 option. He won most of his reps competing in 1-on-1 coverage drills, including two against Hunter Henry, registered a pass breakup during team periods and didn't allow a catch over 11-on-11s.
TE Hunter Henry
The Patriots' top tight end lost his opening three reps of 1-on-1 drills, then dropped his first target in team periods. He finished with a single catch.
CB Christian Gonzalez
A victim of the high standard he's set for himself, Gonzalez lands here having yet to dominate any practice like a No. 1 corner. On Friday, he lost 1-on-1 reps to K.J. Osborn and rookie Ja'Lynn Polk, then allowed a touchdown to Osborn during 7-on-7s.
DeMario Douglas sparks Patriots’ offense in return to team drills
