FOXBOROUGH – The competition is heating up.
The Patriots held their 16th day of training camp on Sunday. This 2-hour, full-padded session brought out the best in certain players on the Gillette Stadium practice field.
This week, the Patriots will work toward their preseason finale in Washington. Next week, the team will whittle its roster down to 53 players. Before you knew it (in three weeks), the Patriots will be in Cincinnati for the 2024 regular-season opener.
By this point, players are pushing for roster spots and starting jobs. After impressing last week against the Philadelphia Eagles, Drake Maye is beginning to make some noise in the team’s quarterback competition.
Sunday’s practice was another example – and another good day for the No. 3 overall pick.
Here are seven takeaways from the Patriots 2-hour practice:
1. Drake Maye is making a push
At the start of training camp, it felt like the Patriots were planning to start Jacoby Brissett in Week 1 against Cincinnati. For all of camp, the veteran quarterback has constantly taken the first reps with the projected ‘starters.’
That was still the case this weekend, however, Maye is coming on strong. After playing well in last week’s preseason game against Philadelphia, the rookie quarterback looked more confident and decisive in Sunday’s practice.
He also played better than Brissett.
Maye finished Day 16 of camp completing 10-of-15 passes. He went 5-of-6 in full-team drills and 5-of-9 in 7-on-7s. Brissett went 11-of-21 on Sunday. He finished 6-of-13, completing 46% of his passes in full-team drills. In 7-on-7s, he went 5-of-8.
After practice, Maye’s teammates spoke very highly of him.
“I feel like every day (Maye) comes out here, he’s turning a corner,” Alex Austin said. “He’s a great quarterback with a lot of talent.”
“Drake has a different type of confidence and leadership,” Osborn added. “He’s a rookie so he’s still learning, but he’s also a quarterback and a very smart guy. His locker is next to me and (Brissett), so he asks me questions and we talk. He’s definitely progressing.”
Maye still isn’t taking reps with the projected starting offense, but his overall performance has been very encouraging.
Another thing to monitor is health. On Brissett’s first full-team throw, it appeared as though he hit his right hand on a teammate’s helmet. The veteran could be seen shaking his hand out. Brissett didn’t miss a rep and never left the practice field.
Joe Milton III (2-of-3) and Bailey Zappe (1-of-1) received limited reps on Sunday.
The Patriots have one preseason game and three weeks of practice before their Week 1 matchup with the Bengals. At this time, it’s not crazy to think that Maye could be the Patriots starting quarterback.
2. Offensive line shuffle
The Patriots shuffled their offensive line so much on Sunday that it would probably make you dizzy. It was a clear sign that the team’s best-starting lineup is up for debate.
At the beginning of practice, the usual five was with Brissett – Vederian Lowe (left tackle), Sidy Sow (left guard), David Andrews (center), Michael Onwenu (right guard), and Chuks Okorafor (right tackle).
However, that didn’t last long.
Before you knew it, players were rotating in and out of the offensive line rapidly. Brissett played with several different combinations on Sunday. At one point, he had rookies Caedan Wallace (right tackle) and Layden Robinson (left guard) in his lineup. One snap, Michael Jordan (right guard) was in and Brissett’s day ended with Wallace replacing Okorafor at right tackle.
It felt noteworthy that Wallace was with Brissett’s group in the entire last period of practice.
“Coach says he’s trying to find the best combination, starting five, to go out there Week 1,” said Lowe. “That’s just what matters for right now.”
Maye’s offensive line had even more substituting. He played with Wallace (right tackle), Jordan (right guard), Liam Fornadel (center), Robinson (left guard), and Okorafor (left tackle). Soon enough, Wallace rotated in at left tackle with Okorafor and Sow rotated in with Robinson at left guard.
At one point, Maye’s right tackle changed three times with Wallace, Onwenu, and Okorafor all taking reps. In the next period, Jordan and Onwenu played right guard while Okorafor and Lowe played at left tackle.
3. Tight end problems and a solution
The Patriots are running out of tight ends. On Sunday, Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper were both out. Mitchell Wilcox started the practice as the top tight end, but he suffered an injury early during a 7-on-7 period.
That left the Patriots with three tight ends left – La’Michael Pettway, Jaheim Bell, and Jacob Warren.
That’s when Bell, the Patriots seventh-round pick stepped up. In the first 11-on-11 period, Bell caught three touchdowns from three different quarterbacks – Brissett, Maye, and Milton. The rookie had emphatic touchdown celebrations, including one where he tossed the ball high above his head and on the field.
If that performance continues, Bell could land on the Patriots 53-man roster.
4. Receiver highlights
Milton didn’t get a lot of reps on Sunday (he went 2-of-3), but one of his passes ended up being an awesome highlight.
In the third 11-on-11 period, Milton tossed a ball around 30 yards down the left sideline. Before you knew it, Kawaan Baker jumped up and over Marcellus Dial to make a ridiculous Randy Moss-like catch. Baker caught the ball in front of Dial’s facemask and wrestled it away from the cornerback.
Offensive players were so excited about the reception that they ran onto the field to celebrate.
Later in practice, K.J. Osborn had a highlight-reel touchdown. This came on a 25-yard Maye deep ball and Osborn jumped up and over Marcus Jones to make a nice catch.
“It was a play call for me and I was able to beat the man in front of me,” Osborn said. “Drake put a good ball up – an opportunity ball – and I was able to come down with it.”
5. Rookie struggles
Javon Baker has had a nice first training camp. The rookie receiver has made several nice deep ball catches this summer. The fourth-round pick, however, had a tough moment last week when he caught and dropped a potential 50-yard-plus pass from Maye.
On Sunday, that was seen again.
In Maye’s first 11-on-11 period, the rookie quarterback delivered another nice deep ball and as Baker dove, the ball hit him in his outstretched arms. But like last week, Baker dropped the pass as he hit the group.
The rookie receiver caught 1-of-5 targets on Sunday.
“It’s football, man. He’s a rookie so first times being out there and really getting opportunities to make some plays, you can’t make them all,” Osborn said when asked about Baker. “We get back on the practice field, he had a really good catch today. (He needs to) stay in his book and really stack days.”
6. Kicker competition heats up
It looks like the Patriots kicker competition has a leader.
On Sunday, the team ended practice by having their player surround the kickers and make as much noise as they could. With music blaring, players jumped up and down while also tossing water in the air for each kick from Chad Ryland and Joey Syle.
Ryland made the first two kicks but then missed his last two. He finished 3-of-5 on the day. Slye, however, went a perfect 4-for-4.
Ryland missed from 49 and 55 yards. Slye hit from both distances.
7. Patriots have fun
Bill Belichick’s training camp tradition remains.
On Sunday, the Patriots did their annual slip-and-slide before practice. This is when a player or two hold a hose and dose players while they run and try to recover a loose football on the slippery surface.
This year, rookies and second-year players were hosed down by David Andrews and Ja’Whaun Bentley. Jerod Mayo and other coaches also participated.
“I haven’t (seen that before). That was new,” said Antonio Gibson. “You can always work on getting the ball. You never know the conditions. That was a good drill right there.”
“Got to see some fun stuff,” added Jahlani Tavai.
The slip-and-slide day was something done at nearly every Bill Belichick training camp in New England. It wasn’t unusual to see new coaches take a turn, either.
