Patriots Training Camp 14: Dominant Day for Drake Maye Ends on Down Note

Attendance

Absent: CB Christian Gonzalez, SAF Mike Brown, WR Kyle Dixon

Limited: RT Morgan Moses, CB Carlton Davis III, DI Christian Barmore, CB Charles Woods, LS Julian Ashby

Physically Unable to Perform: ED Harold Landry III

Non-Football Injury: ST Brenden Schooler

Injured Reserve: WR Jeremiah Webb, WR Jimmy Kibble, TE Julian Hill

Tweet of the Day

Mike Vrabel’s Top Quotes of Not

On TreVeyon Henderson’s vision: He had a few nice cuts, and again, I think I’ve always said that the best receivers have the ability to play at different speeds and not just be fast all the time, but being able to play at different speeds. I would say that for a running back with his speed, sometimes it’s important that he sees it, and much like linebackers, that no step is better than a bad step. I think by understanding the front that’s out in front of the run or what it may look like at the beginning, whether there’s movement, and then what his adjustments are, I think some of that is starting to slow down for him and being able to see the picture of what it looks like and then potentially what it could look like a couple strides into the run. So, he continues to work at it, and the only way to improve at it’s to work at it and see it, and he’s getting a lot of different looks from our defense in the run game as well.

On whether joint practices are used to evaluate starters: Yeah. That’s really the only reason that we do these joint practices. It will be a lot of the frontline players and whoever’s available. Some of the guys that maybe will not get as much work today will get extensive work in the game on Thursday. That’s just how it goes. So, let’s see how today goes, and we can always adjust and plan accordingly.

On the challenges presented by Daniel Jones and the Colts’ offense: Hard to evaluate them last year before Daniel Jones and everything else. I know they are a physical football team. They are well-coached. We didn’t have a lot of crossover games with them. We didn’t see them a ton. We saw them a little bit. They are multiple on defense. Offensively, it’s a good run football team that will run from the good tight ends, multiple tight ends, packages, an elite runner. So again, these are all looking for fundamentals today. Looking for the ability to be firm at the line of scrimmage, transition into the pocket when they have their play action passes, and be able to set edges and build walls and then run our third down package and figure out what the cadence is, figure out how much we can disguise those things. We’ve been going against our offense, so figuring out what their rhythm is on third down and when they want to try to undress the defense and how our disguise looks and everything else.

On the challenges presented by Lou Anarumo’s defense: I’m sure it’s going to be a lot like our defense. There’ll be multiple coverages. There’ll be non-traditional Tampa looks. There’ll be simulated pressures. There’ll be load fronts on third down. But I don’t know. They only give me our calls. They don’t give me their calls.

On Harold Landry III’s status: He’s continuing to improve. But again, I don’t think we want to rush anything. Harold stays locked in on what we are doing in our defense, and again, I just want to give him every opportunity that he can to get back and feel good and feel confident before we start his clock and take him off of the PUP list.

Notebook

• Christian Gonzalez—who has yet to reach an agreement with the Patriots on a contract extension—was absent from today’s practice after falling hard on Romeo Doubs’ high-point touchdown yesterday.
• Drake Maye looked excellent for most of practice, throwing on time and with accuracy even from a few murky pockets. Maye’s best throws came on a drop in the bucket to Doubs down the sideline, then on a fadeaway throw to Rhamondre Stevenson in the corner of the end zone against quick pressure, their second time scoring on the concept that day. Maye also connected with A.J. Brown on a hole shot, hit crossers off play action to Hunter Henry, Eli Raridon, and DeMario Douglas, and found Douglas before taking off to run on another quick pressure dropback. Maye’s only significant lowlight came on his final throw during a one-minute drive, where he floated a late seam to an open Douglas and was intercepted by safety Cameron Bynum.
• It was a somewhat inconsistent day for New England’s top receiver duo, though there was more good than bad. Brown caught a hole shot during full-field team drills and scored on a red zone corner, but the receiver also slipped on a curl target that was nearly intercepted, and he failed to connect with Maye on a crosser in the low red zone. Doubs’ day was highlighted by his sideline grab, as well as excellent separation on a curl during 1-on-1s and an out in the end zone, but he was also wearing coverage on a few reps, most notably on a comeback target from Tommy “Two Chainz” DeVito.
• DeVito’s strong summer continued today, with the top backup connecting on two deep throws for touchdowns. The first was a post to Kyle Williams during 11-on-11s where Williams ran through contact from two defenders. The second came on the first play of a one-minute drive, with Mack Hollins getting wide open on corner-post for an instant score, which DeVito followed up with a two-point conversion to Raridon in the back of the end zone.
• The Patriots’ top offensive line had a positive showing overall against a solid Colts. Pass protection was sound for the most part, which afforded Maye plenty of time to find his options. The run game was less consistent, but there were moments of good push, and TreVeyon Henderson ripped off a potential red zone score on outside zone after Rhamondre Stevenson picked up a chunk of yards on a draw.
• Douglas, Williams, and Efton Chism looked unguardable in 1-on-1 situations, with Douglas and Chism both coming down with high-difficulty grabs in contested situations.
• Raridon had four catches in full-team periods, including a crosser from Maye and multiple red zone looks.