FOXBOROUGH – On Sunday morning, Patriots players arrived at Gillette Stadium for their usual meetings hours before training camp started. On this day, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt installed a new play for his group to try in the red zone.
On Day 12 of Patriots training camp, that play led to one of the best highlights for the offense.
Jacoby Brissett’s unit was at the 10-yard line and when the ball was snapped, the quarterback’s first two options were covered well. That’s when the veteran ran outside the pocket, allowing K.J. Osborn to get free of cornerback Christian Gonzalez.
Brissett fired the ball to the back corner of the end zone and Osborn delivered a highlight-reel touchdown catch.
“That was a play today that we put in the offense this morning. We called it speed-break quick and I was able to beat the corner and roll out,” Osborn explained. “Jacoby’s first and second read wasn’t there, so I worked to the corner. Jacoby was able to use his feet to buy some extra time, put a ball out there where the DB couldn’t get it and I was able to make a play for him.”
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Sunday was one of Brissett’s best days of camp. The 31-year-old had complete control of the offense and finished 15-of-22 with two highlight-reel touchdowns.
In 11-on-11s, Brissett went 9-of-12. That included a 20-yard touchdown to Jalen Reagor with Marco Wilson in tight coverage. It was a perfect pass to Reagor to get the offense in the red zone. Three plays later, Brissett hit Osborn, while throwing on the run, to score from the 10-yard line.
Brissett also went 6-of-10 in 7-on-7s.
Drake Maye had an up-and-down day, but it wasn’t due to the rookie. The young quarterback went 15-of-22 overall with an interception.
Maye had a tough time due to his offensive line. The second-team unit struggled to block and the line was pushed backward more times than not. Maye’s receivers also had two drops on the day.
For example, Maye’s first 11-on-11 period was tough to watch. First, Mitchell Wilcox dropped a great throw from Maye, who was on the run. Next, the quarterback was sacked on a safety blitz by Brendan Schooler. After making back-to-back throws, Maye was forced to throw the ball away due to the increased pressure.
In the second period, Maye had back-to-back incomplete passes where he had to throw the ball away and a pass was batted down at the line of scrimmage.
Later, Maye was intercepted by Armon Watts off a pass deflected at the line. The rookie bounced back, however, throwing a 20-yard touchdown to LaMichael Pettway on the next snap.
Maye went 11-of-19 with an interception in full-team drills. He went 7-of-10 in 7-on-7s.
Bailey Zappe and Joe Milton III received limited reps. Milton went 0-for-2 in full-team drills and 3-of-4 in 7-on-7s. Zappe went 0-for-1 in 11-on-11s and 3-of-4 in 7-on-7s.
