Good morning, happy Sunday, and welcome back into another edition of ‘Patriots notes, quotes, & anecdotes’.
We’re back with another column hitting on all of the happenings surrounding the Patriots. With training camp officially beginning this week, we’re adding a different spin to this one, taking a look at the top thoughts and question marks from New England’s first three days of practice.
Here we go:
5. Ja’Lynn Polk will be an immediate contributor to New England’s offense.
Ever since the Patriots selected wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk with the 37th pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, it’s been made clear that they have a plan for him. Despite running mostly with the 2’s throughout the offseason program, the former Washington Huskie showed an immediate connection with fellow rookie Drake Maye — and capped off the Spring with a highlight reel touchdown.
“A beast, man,” he told reporters the night he was drafted about what New England was getting in him. “A dude that loves football, loves his teammates, and you know [is] ready to build and be able to come and bring a great player and a very electric person, and go on to win games.”
Now, just three days into his first NFL training camp, Polk’s already been a regular with New England’s first-team offense alongside the likes of veteran K.J. Osborn and journeyman Jalen Reagor.
“Whatever they need me to do, that’s what Imma go do,” Polk explained when asked about his prominent role in the offense this early on. “If I gotta go run with the 3’s, the 4’s, if I gotta go do anything on special teams that they want me to do, I’m with it. Whatever’s gonna put this team in a position to win games and change this thing around — I’m with it.”
Drake Maye on this completion to Ja’Lynn Polk:
“He made a nice catch, wasn’t a great throw… he’s a great player.”
— Mike Kadlick (@mikekadlick) July 26, 2024
Polk’s aggressive, sure hands were on full display from Wednesday through Sunday, as well as his ability to not only get open in a phone booth — but also downfield. He beat stud cornerback Christian Gonzalez for a would-be touchdown on Thursday, and would have likely been celebrating in the endzone if it weren’t for a Jacoby Brissett overthrow.
Next week will be crucial for the 6-foot-1 pass catcher’s game. Known just as much for his ability as a blocker in the run game, Polk will look to prove his worth even further once the pads come on.
4. Defense still outstanding despite some questions.
As I wrote in my first Camp Conversations column of 2024, the Patriots’ defense will be why they’ll win more games than they’re expected to this season.
Despite two contract disputes along the defensive line, several moving parts in the cornerback room, and a lingering injury to second-year defender Marte Mapu, New England’s defense has been the clear winner thus far. Through three days of training camp, cornerbacks are flying around breaking up passes, ends are screaming off the edge for touch-off sacks, and Matthew Judon has found himself a new touchdown celebration.
When said pads come on next Monday they’ll really be able to show how much far ahead they are.
3. What’s up with Mapu?
Speaking of the defense, hybrid linebacker/safety Marte Mapu’s showing (or lack thereof) throughout training camp has been worrisome — to say the least.
Throughout the first three days of summer sessions, the 2023 third-round pick has seldom been participating in 11-on-11’s. On Friday, he was absent for the start of practice before strolling out with his helmet in his hand alongside fellow absentee Christian Barmore. He was a non-participant for the entire session.
Marte Mapu and Christian Barmore are two late arrivals to practice. pic.twitter.com/k6nqhaG8io
— Mike Kadlick (@mikekadlick) July 26, 2024
Though it hasn’t been reported what he’s dealing with, I don’t think we should be worried just yet. Should we be worried? Not yet. Sure, his fellow 2023 classmates in CB Christian Gonzalez and DE Keion White are already lapping him in terms of productivity and availability thus far, it is only late July, and he has plenty of time to get healthy and show his stuff.
“There are times where I look at a guy like Marte,” Mayo explained on Tuesday. “Is Marte a safety? Is he a linebacker? We don’t know, but we’ll see once we put the pads on. But that’s a guy that I’m excited to see out there in pads.”
Hopefully, for his sake, that’s sooner rather than later.
2. Don’t panic about the offensive line… yet.
The Patriots have used multiple offensive line combinations in front of their quarterbacks throughout the first several days of camp — something that tackle Chukwuma Okorafor told the media, is all a part of the plan.
“Every day will be a different line,” he explained of the rotation on Thursday. “We don’t really know who is going to be the guy yet. Obviously with Dave [Andrews] and Mike [Onwenu] we know about them, but I think apart from that, everything is wide open.”
Okorafor was seemingly a staple at the left tackle spot before a switch to the right on Friday. Before him, it was a mix of Calvin Anderson, Vederian Lowe, and Caeden Wallace. At the very least it’s been consistent down the middle with Sidy Sow (LG), David Andrews (C), and Mike Onwenu (RG) holding down the fort, but sooner or later it will be time to cement a final five.
When will that be? It’s hard to say, but it’s also hard to judge whether the de facto open tryout is the right or wrong thing to do until (stop me if you’ve heard this before) the pads come on. Right now it’s all about technique and being in the right spot. Once it’s time to actually knock block somebody, we can worry about the constant switching of guys and the lack of an ability to get comfortable with the players around them.
Long story short? I wouldn’t panic… yet.
1. Drake Maye’s comfortability in Patriots’ offensive will speed up his ability to be the starter.
Though I did say during our live Patriots Daily x Patriots Beat crossover following Friday’s that I still believe Jacoby Brissett will be the Week 1 guy, Drake Maye’s comfortability just three days into the offense is priming him to become this team’s starting quarterback sooner rather than later.
The rookie out of UNC has yet to put together the practice, but his ability to get in and out of the huddle, go through his progressions, and blend being aggressive downfield with taking what the defense gives him, shows that he’s not the guy some scouts thought he was — i.e.– a player who needs to be coddled and groomed until his second season.
As far as an ability to step onto an NFL football field, Maye has looked like a seasoned vet so far. There have been seldom hiccups, busted plays, or bobble snaps with him under center thus far. Don’t get me wrong, he has plenty of work to do, but sometimes I think we forget he’s already passed veteran Bailey Zappe on the depth chart and is getting plenty of first-team-type reps alongside Jacoby Brissett.
Maye’s ahead of schedule — and it’s something to monitor as the days and weeks continue.
Thanks for reading! We’ll talk to ya next week.
Follow Mike on Twitter @mikekadlick for the latest up-to-date Patriots and Boston sports news!
