FOXBOROUGH – The Patriots finally left the red zone and on Sunday, that meant the team’s offense finally woke up.
For the first three days of training camp, all the Patriots competitive team drills came within the red zone. That led to less than desired results for the quarterbacks with Mac Jones completing 49% of his throws, Bailey Zappe 45%, and Trace McSorley 38%.
On Sunday, the coaching staff put the offense and defense through some team drills outside of the red zone and let the offense attempt to get downfield. This led to the unit having their best day of camp. The defense was still competitive, but Jones and Zappe shined on Day 4 of Patriots training camp.
Jones had his best day of camp and was hot to start, completing eight of his first 10 throws in 11-on-11s. The final period, which was in the red zone, brought some similar struggles, with coverage sacks and spotty pass protection, but Jones finished 10-of-14 on the afternoon. He was accurate on Sunday and showed good poise when things went awry.
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That final period saw Jones run six plays and he was sacked three times and pressured on another, which he threw the ball away. The first two sacks were coverage sacks as no one got open. The third sack came from Matthew Judon.
Jones did a solid job responding to pressure. One snap, he left the pocket and ran in for a touchdown. When Jones did throw the ball in this period, he was 2-of-4 with two touchdowns to Mike Gesicki.
Those marked Gesicki’s first two catches in competitive team drills this camp. Jones’ favorite target was Rhamondre Stevenson, who caught four passes. JuJu Smith-Schuster hauled in two catches as DeVante Parker had one and Kevin Harris hauled in a touchdown in the red zone.
Bailey Zappe finished 12-of-16 with an interception on Sunday. The defense was tough on him to start practice as two of his first three passes were deflected by Jabrill Peppers and Jack Jones. Zappe rebounded to make some outstanding throws in the next two periods. One highlight was a 20-yard touchdown to Jalen Hurd in the back corner of the end zone.
It was a great throw and even better catch for the 6-foot-4 receiver, who dove to haul in the touchdown. Zappe also had a really nice pass to Tre Nixon, for another touchdown in the corner of the end zone. In the final period, Zapped locked onto Tyquan Thornton for two touchdowns. This marked the first two catches for Thornton in camp.
Zappe seemed to pick on Marcus Jones in practice, throwing for three touchdowns with the second-year cornerback in coverage. Zappe was also locked onto Demario Douglas, who led the way with five catches on Sunday. The pint-sized rookie receiver continues to impress and made multiple nice catches on Day 4.
Zappe’s day, however, ended with an interception as Jalen Mills picked off the quarterback in the end zone on a pass attempt to Scotty Washington.
Trace McSorley also had a strong day, going 9-for-11 in full-team drills. His favorite target was undrafted receiver Ed Lee, who caught a team-high six passes on Sunday.
