The Patriots were back in pads for their 17th training camp practice after Sunday’s walkthrough. The focus was on full-field team periods with the top offense simulating a one-minute situation to close practice.
Here’s a look at attendance, Mike Vrabel’s top quotes of note, and my top observations on a cloudy day in Foxborough.
Attendance
Absent: CB Christian Gonzalez, WR Kobe Prentice, LB Chad Muma, ED Xavier Holmes, IOL Ben Brown, WR Kyle Dixon
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, IOL Andrew Rupcich
Tweet of the Day
A.J. Brown hyping up his O-line and pretending to play LB during warm up drills😂
Good vibes at Day 17 of #Patriots Training Camp
–@CLNSMedia pic.twitter.com/pT7b2a8jpd— Patriots on CLNS (@PatriotsCLNS) August 17, 2026
Mike Vrabel’s Top Quotes of Note
On whether Devon Witherspoon’s new deal affects the timeline for Christian Gonzalez’s extension: Everything is pretty unique to itself, and whether that’s negotiations, players or the play that we’re running— certainly those are unique and individual situations, and I think we’ll try to focus on Christian’s, and I know he’ll focus on his own situation. So, we’ll continue to work through that, and he’ll continue to try to improve and try to get back out on the field.
On whether the team would rather add veterans at guard or lean on younger players: Well, I think we have to be able to evaluate the younger group and see what they do here this week and in a competitive setting and then also in the game, and then always keep our eyes open to what it looks like around the league.
On whether Caleb Lomu might get reps at guard due to injuries at the position: Yeah, you certainly could. I think we just, what happens is, where do you feel like he can make the most strides, and you don’t want to derail the improvement that he’s making and some of those things. And so I’m probably much like you guys and say, “Hey, that it’s not that big of a deal to go from tackle to guard.” I’ve got a lot of coaches that probably think differently than what you guys and maybe me think, and that it’s a little bigger deal, but I think Caleb’s been working hard. He’s been trying to improve, but I think at some point we will need to do that as well, and that’s just trying to be fair to the kid and the player as he’s developing and learning this game and this league, and then at some point in time probably have to take a look in there.
On how the run game is progressing: It’s probably hard to tell. I think it could always be better, but it’s not live, so you don’t know if guys break tackles and receivers are trying to come get safeties that are three yards from the line of scrimmage. Do you want them to go nail them and then knock them into the other guys? So, I think that there’s a fine line there in trying to figure out what the run game looks like and what it will look like, and there’s been some good runs. There’s been some times where it’s been one guy, but still not a very good play. So there’s, I think, good things and there’s some things that would have to be better, but we want to take care of our guys. We want to make sure that we’re staying up and we’re not creating piles, and sometimes those receivers going down to get those guys in support creates a little funky angle, and we ask them to take care of each other. So, in a game, maybe the guy is able to block them by the hole, and in practice, sometimes that doesn’t happen.
On how Gabe Jacas has progressed: Okay. I think that it needs to be better. It was better on Saturday than it was in the game. We pointed some things out to him in the game, and I felt it was really cool of him to be able to make those corrections and look at some of the body positions that we feel like he should be in, and he was really conscious of those, and I saw those things translate in just a quick, short amount of time from the meeting after the game to Saturday’s practice.
Notebook
- Drake Maye had his second near-perfect practice of camp, with just two of his team-period passes hitting the turf. Maye looked sharp the handful of times he went downfield, completing throws to A.J. Brown, Romeo Doubs, and Mack Hollins. Brown’s catch was one of the highlights of the summer, as Maye hit the receiver in stride on a post after Brown got yards of separation against Charles Woods. Maye also showed improved chemistry with Doubs on timing routes today, catching a pair of deep outs and getting open on a curl completion. The starting offense stumbled during its third team period, with Woods smothering Brown on a curl and an apparent miscommunication leading to an incompletion to an unknown target against Cover 0, but the unit rebounded during a one-minute situation to end practice. Maye opened the drive with a downfield scramble completion to Brown, hit Doubs and DeMario Douglas underneath, connected with Kayshon Boutte on a curl, then found an uncovered Rhamondre Stevenson in the flat to beat an all-out blitz and set up a successful field goal.
- Andy Borregales went 3-5 on field goal attempts through the narrow uprights, but none of his misses were egregious, and at least one would’ve been good in a live game. Borregales also finished strong by converting on a 40-yard attempt to end practice.
- Christian Barmore returned and participated in each team period, but his snaps were limited.
- Caleb Lomu repped extensively at left tackle today with the backup unit. Marcus Bryant lined up opposite the rookie at right tackle.
- Namdi Obiazor got multiple snaps with the starting defense, which we haven’t seen much, if any, this summer.
- Jesse Luketa walked gingerly off the practice field late in practice.
- The Patriots held a unique 1-on-1 period in which players took specific spots in the formation while the rest of the team watched. Kyle Williams, Eli Raridon, Jesse Luketa, Marcus Bryant, Riley Wilson, Jared Wilson, and Caleb Lomu won their reps pretty decisively. Here were the full results.
