The Patriots held another padded practice for their sixth day of training camp. Red zone possessions remained the primary focus, with the team working on 1-on-1, 7-on-7, and 11-on-11 drills. The offense got some breathing room during one period that began at midfield.
Here’s a look at New England’s attendance and what I noticed during a cloudy day in Foxborough.
Attendance
Absent: CB Carlton Davis III, DI Christian Barmore
Limited: RT Morgan Moses, LG Alijah Vera-Tucker
Physically Unable to Perform: ED Harold Landry III, TE CJ Dippre
Non-Football Injury: ED Gabe Jacas, ST Brenden Schooler, RB Terrell Jennings
Injured Reserve: WR Jeremiah Webb, WR Jimmy Kibble, TE Julian Hill
Tweet of the Day
Notebook
- Drake Maye built on a strong first day in pads with a nearly flawless showing during today’s practice. Outside of Christian Gonzalez intercepting a throwaway that didn’t appear to count (the whistle blew before his release due to instant pressure), none of Maye’s passes hit the ground during competitive reps. Maye’s anticipation, touch, and accuracy were on display throughout practice, especially given the narrow margin for error in the read area. Per usual, Maye did a great job spreading the ball around and finding the open man, but A.J. Brown and DeMario Douglas stood out as two top targets. Maye had multiple impressive throws into tight windows, but the play of the day came in the open field. The defense appeared to have an unblocked rusher on a blitz, but Maye got the ball out quickly to Brown, who’d beaten Gonzalez on a double move, and led his receiver deep for a 50-yard touchdown.
- Will Campbell held up well in isolated pass pro snaps. Per Evan Lazar of Patriots.com. Campbell went 3-0 in 1-on-1s, including a win over Dre’Mont Jones, though the veteran got him back with a win during 11-on-11s. Caleb Lomu had an up-and-down practice during a rest day for Morgan Moses, going 2-2 in 1-on-1s with losses to Elijah Ponder and Bradyn Swinson.
- The top pass protection unit struggled a bit in a more blitz-heavy practice, particularly on the left side. Two of the most egregious examples of unblocked rushers came on Maye’s deep touchdown to Brown and his no-play throwaway. Holes in the run game also remained scarce.
- Eli Raridon continues to be one of Tommy DeVito’s top targets. Though he had a drop after beating Dell Pettus on a stick route, Raridon hauled in three other targets with the second offense, including a sail route between three zone defenders. Raridon also beat Craig Woodson on a corner in the low red zone before hauling in a pass from Maye. Raridon drew praise from both Maye and DeVito after practice for his size, movement ability, intelligence, and work ethic.
- Romeo Doubs had another quiet day in team periods, but he made an impressive play to climb the ladder and high-point a fade target over Gonzalez, who was trying to make a play on the ball.
- Hunter Henry had the catch of the day, tipping a slightly overthrown corner target to himself and securing it before going out of bounds.
- Kyle Williams and Karon Prunty had a couple of fun battles late in practice, with Prunty breaking up a slant before Williams caught a contested fade to end practice.
- Cameron Dorner is starting to separate himself from the rest of New England’s undrafted free agent receivers. The North Texas product made a tough catch on a slant with Brandon Crossley all over him, and he made himself available on a Behren Morton scramble late in practice. Dorner also beat Prunty for a fade touchdown during the first padded practice.
- Mehki Butler appears to have jumped Caedan Wallace on the depth chart after repping as the backup left guard opposite Andrew Rupcich.