GREEN BAY – Wednesday marked the first day of joint practices between the Patriots and Green Bay Packers. That also meant it was the first ‘true’ test for Mac Jones and the Patriots offense.
Up to this point, through 14 days of Patriots training camp, Jones and his group have made incremental improvements this summer despite playing behind an injury-laden offensive line. On Wednesday, we saw more issues with pass protection, but in the end, Jones played well against the Packers defense.
This practice saw Jones throw a camp-high 26 passes in competitive full-team drills. The quarterback completed 69% of his throws, going 18-for-26 on the day. This practice saw both highs and lows from Jones’ unit.
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The Patriots offense started strong as Jones went 4-for-5 in the first two periods. The Packers defense stepped up in Period 3, which started with a coverage sack on Jones. The quarterback then went 3-for-5, but the operation wasn’t as polished. The group, however, rebounded in the red zone. Those two periods saw Jones go 4-of-5 with a touchdown to Devante Parker.
Parker was one of the best players on this day. On that score, the receiver jumped over several Packers defenders to haul in the jump ball. Jones was so pumped that he ran into the end zone to celebrate with Parker, who finished with a camp-high five receptions on the day.
Jones started practice 11-for-15. The offense’s next period, however, was one of their worst. Jones went 4-for-6, but this section of practice was marred by offensive penalties. Here we saw two penalties in two plays when Sidy Sow was called for a hold and then Atonio Mafi was whistled for a false start. This period ended with Kendrick Bourne being flagged for offensive pass interference.
The Patriots offensive ended practice with a semi-successful 2-minute drill. Jones went 3-for-6 here as it didn’t seem like Bill Belichick was thrilled with the group. This started off with what looked like a JuJu Smith-Shuster drop. Jones was sacked after a pass to Parker. Following passes to Bourne and Smith-Schuster, Jones avoided the pass rush by running out of the pocket and sliding on the ground. After spiking the ball, Jones threw the ball away and Nick Folk came on the field to hit a field goal.
Belichick, however, wasn’t thrilled with what he saw and had Jones and his group come back on the field to run one more play. That was an incomplete pass, where it looked like Bourne slipped, and Chad Ryland hit the next field goal.
Bailey Zappe’s group was under fire from the Packers defensive line for most of practice. Zappe finished going 16-of- 22 on the day. Several of Zappe’s throws were off the mark, but the second-year quarterback had a great connection with Demario Douglas. The rookie hauled in five catches on Wednesday.
Malik Cunningham took four snaps at quarterback on this day. He handed the ball off twice to Rhamondre Stevenson and took off with two keepers. Trace McSorley didn’t attempt a pass in team drills.
