Following a walkthrough on Sunday, the New England Patriots were back on the practice fields for the third straight day on Monday and ramped the intensity back up.
Here’s what went down on the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium.
Setting
Attire: Full pads
Duration: ca. 90 minutes (10:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. ET)
Conditions: Cloudy, temperatures in the low 70s
The sun was not seen in Foxboro on Monday as the rain did ultimately hold off. New England did return to wearing full pads with the focus on full-field work until the final end-of-game drive.
Attendance
Absent: CB Christian Gonzalez, WR Kobe Prentice, OLB Xavier Holmes, LB Chad Muma, OL Ben Brown, WR Kyle Dixon
Injured: OLB Jesse Luketa
Returnee: DL Christian Barmore (limited)
PUP/NFI: ED Harold Landry III, S Brenden Schooler
New England’s usual group remain sidelined on Monday as cornerback Christian Gonzalez continues to work through the return to play phase. The Patriots did see Christian Barmore return to action and sparingly work in with the first-team defense.
Along the edge, veteran Jesse Luketa left practice early with a trainer as he appeared hobbled.
Takeaways
A.J. and Doubs: New England’s offseason wide receiver additions continued to impress on Monday. That began with A.J. Brown posting the offensive highlight of the day, as the receiver got wide open downfield before being hit in stride by Drake Maye for a 70-plus yard touchdown. Brown then kickstarted a successful end-of-game drive by Maye as he worked across the field as Maye was forced out of the pocket to connect for an explosive along the sideline.
As for Doubs, the 26-year old caught four passes from Maye in full-team work. Unlike Doubs recent success that has come in more downfield, jump ball situations, the connection today featured strong timing between the quarterback and wide receiver. Maye hit Doubs on a curl, corner, out right, and quick out as their chemistry grows.
1-on-1s: In a unique wrinkle to practice, Mike Vrabel lined the whole team up across the field and slowly picked players out to matchup 1-on-1 against each — which included some special teams situations as well. Defensive tackle Cory Durden shared he had never seen that done throughout his NFL career. As for the highlights:
- Kyle Williams beat Karon Prunty on the first play
- Efton Chism III bested Channing Canada on an out route
- Eli Raridon easily worked by Namdi Obiazor on a corner
- Jared Wilson stopped Joshua Farmer in the trenches
- Gabe Jacas failed to get by Caleb Lomu working around the edge
- After Hassan Haskins appeared to stop Khalil Jacobs, the linebacker easily won the rematch
One-minute: To end practice, Drake Maye took the field with 1:15 on the clock and the ball at the 20-yard line. Maye quickly got to work, connecting with Brown on the aforementioned completion outside of the pocket and found Romeo Doubs, DeMario Douglas, and Kayshon Boutte on short passes to move into opponent territory. A swing pass to Rhamondre Stevenson against a blitz then got the unit comfortably into field goal range, where they were able to center the ball and kill the clock with three seconds remaining. Andy Borregales then knocked through a 40-yard field goal through the skinny field goal posts.
Skinny posts: Back working on the skinny field goal posts, Andy Borregales connected on 3-of-his-5 attempts — with a long of 50 yards — before the final make. Borregales’ first miss from roughly 45 yards out would have likely been successful on regular field goal posts, while his second miss from 52 yards out would have been close to the left upright.
After missing three field goals in the preseason opener, Borregales is now 10-of-12 in two practices working on the skinnier field goal posts.
Other notes:
- Efton Chism III continues to see time with the first offense. That included snaps in the final one-minute drive and connecting with Maye earlier in 7-on-7s. Chism also had two catches during the day from DeVito.
- Hassan Haskins was the first running back behind Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson to receive carries today. Haskins ultimately out touched Lan Larison while JaMycal Hasty also got some run with the second unit as Jam Miller largely worked with the third offense.
- Rookie Caleb Lomu worked at both left and right tackle today. He won his 1-on-1 reps against Jacas on the right side before losing to Bradyn Swinson on the left.
- New England’s backup offensive lines struggled on Monday, as Jeremiah Pharms, Leonard Taylor, and Eric Gregory were in the backfield at times for potential sacks.
- Gabe Jacas continues to work in with the first-team defense, as did linebacker Namdi Obiazor.
- Charles Woods continued to rep opposite of Carlton Davis. While Woods was beaten by Brown deep downfield for the receiver’s long touchdown, Woods was on scene for a pass breakup to the receiver later on.
- Karon Prunty recorded a PBU downfield on Kayshon Boutte. Marcellas Dial and Channing Canada also recorded breakups on the day.
- Top kick return pairings: Kyle Williams/Lan Larison and Efton Chism/Hassan Haskins. Also returning: Nick DeGennaro, Jam Miller, Cameron Dorner
Preview
The Patriots will be back on the practice field for their fourth straight day on Tuesday for a walkthrough. That comes before a pair of highly anticipated joint practices with the Philadelphia Eagles on Wednesday and Thursday.