FOXBOROUGH – Before their joint practice with the Philadelphia Eagles, Mike Vrabel said the Patriots’ 19th day of training camp would “be a really good measuring stick” to see where his team was at this point in the summer.
As Wednesday’s practice unfolded, it was eye-opening just how good Drake Maye looked.
The Patriots quarterback carved up a talented Eagles secondary, which is led by two All-Pro cornerbacks. Maye was accurate and efficient, putting on a show for the estimated 15,000 fans in attendance.
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Through the first four full-team periods, Maye was a perfect 13-for-13. By that point, he had thrown multiple accurate deep passes, connecting with A.J. Brown multiple times and then another to Romeo Doubs.
In the fourth 11-on-11 period, Maye beat Pro Bowl and All-Pro cornerback Quinyon Mitchell twice with passes to Brown and Doubs. The third-year quarterback didn’t throw an incomplete pass until Doubs dropped his first attempt of the 2-minute drill.
Maye completed passes to 10 different receivers on Wednesday, finishing 20-of-25 overall.
“He’s very special,” Brown said of his quarterback. “He’s very special, and he makes my job a lot easier. A lot easier. And just learning how he sees the game, you know, and just getting on the same page. So he’s definitely a learning curve. And we’ll continue to try to keep working at that.”
When asked how Maye made his job easier, the Pro Bowl receiver said, “He’s very special. He has a lot of arm talent. You know, he puts the ball anywhere. And the way he sees the game and the way he sees the field.”
That was clear on Wednesday as Maye looked like one of the best players on the field in the Patriots’ practice with the Eagles. Maye finished 16-of-19 on the day in full-team drills and went 4-of-6 in 7-on-7s. Out of his five incomplete passes, two were dropped, and another happened when a receiver slipped on the grass.
Here are the top takeaways from Day 18 of Patriots training camp:
A.J. Brown had a dayA.J. Brown maintained there were no hard feelings and that it was all ‘love’ between him and his former team.
However, the receiver’s performance in Wednesday’s joint practice said otherwise.
The Pro Bowl receiver had his best day of training camp, dominating the Eagles secondary. Brown finished the two-hour practice with a training camp-high seven receptions on seven targets. That included multiple highlight-reel catches that had Patriots fans on their feet.
“We had a good day,” Brown said. “You know, there will always be some stuff that we need to improve on, and no day is perfect. You know, no matter how successful today may look, it’s always something to improve on. And tomorrow we have to come out with the same intensity and continue to get better.”
Maye’s first big pass of the day went to Brown in the second full-team period. The receiver beat Eagles cornerback Riq Woolen off the line on a slant route, darting to the middle of the field to haul in the well-placed pass.
That was a sign of things to come. In the 7-on-7 period, it looked like Maye was intentional about it, throwing to Brown three times in six pass attempts. The receiver caught all his targets, including one with Mitchell in coverage. After beating the All-Pro in coverage, Brown celebrated by spinning the ball on the ground.
The battle with Mitchell was one of the main events of Wednesday’s practice. The two Pro Bowlers matched up once in the 1-on-1 period, with Mitchell knocking the ball out of Brown’s hands.
The Patriots receiver said the cornerback committed a penalty.
“Q got away with a little holding,” Brown said. “But I won, and he pulled himself back into play. I just got to finish the play. My right hand didn’t get to the ball quick enough. My left hand got on the ball, and that’s on me. Attention to detail, catching the ball high, not letting it get low- so those little things- so it was never about who I’m going against. It’s the little things that, you know, that could have been a 40-yard bomb.”
That marked the first and only time Mitchell beat Brown or Maye on Wednesday.
In the fourth 11-on-11 period, Brown beat Mitchell for a solid gain. During this period, the receiver caught three passes and beat Woolen twice. His biggest catch of the day happened when Maye was under pressure and threw the ball up in the air. Brown went up and caught the deep pass over Woolen before getting his feet in bounds for a 30-yard catch.
“He gave me a good ball. It was a quicker throw,” Brown said. “And I just know I had to win at the line of scrimmage, and I was going against Tariq, and I know he’s very fast, and I know he was coming, so I just had to hold my line of scrimmage and just keep going vertical and fade at the last second.”
Andy Borregales highlights 2-minute drillMaye and the offense were dominant before the 2-minute drill. The offense had to work for it in the 2-minute drill, but ultimately prevailed.
Maye’s first pass was dropped by Doubs, but then he hit DeMario Douglas for a first down. After the next pass was broken up by Eagles linebacker Zack Baun, Maye completed another first down, this time to Mack Hollins.
After another incomplete pass, Maye kept the ball for a quarterback keeper. With 18 seconds left on the clock, he then completed his next pass to Hunter Henry. The tight end didn’t get out of bounds, so the special teams unit ran onto the field with time expiring.
The unit quickly set up, and Andy Borregales hit a 52-yard field goal with 1 second left on the clock.
The Patriots kicker wasn’t done.
Tommy DeVito’s unit had a tough time in the 2-minute drill, with multiple back-to-back incompletions. DeVito completed passes to Efton Chism and Hollins to get downfield, but twice missed Kyle Williams on second and third down.
In the end, it didn’t matter as Borregales hit a 57-yard field goal.
The kicker, who missed three kicks against the Indianapolis Colts last week, was 6-of-7 on Wednesday.
Defense beat EaglesThe Patriots defense wanted to win the day, and on Wednesday, they followed the offense’s lead at the end of practice.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was sacked three times on the first three plays of his team’s 2-minute drill before leaving the field with no points.
Craig Woodson, Kevin Byard and Christian Barmore all sacked Hurts to start this drill. Since quarterbacks can’t be hit, Hurts still attempted passes on those plays. Byard and Christian Elliss deflected the first two.
“We had a good blitz,” Barmore said. “Our goal was to get off the field two minutes. You know, don’t let them get down in field goal range. So that was our goal. Keep on dominating.”
On fourth down, Hurts completed a pass to Darius Cooper to keep the drive alive. After a false start, the Eagles quarterback hit Dontayvion Wicks twice and then spiked the ball. With 11 seconds left, Hurts threw the ball to Wicks again, but he was stopped in bounds and time ran out.
The Patriots’ backup defense followed suit with cornerback Kindle Vildor intercepting backup quarterback Tanner McKee.
“When you’re going up against a different team in a joint practice, you want to have success. And obviously I think we had some great success today,” Byard said. “We had a lot of takeaways. Obviously wanted to finish today winning the two-minute drill; we were able to do that. I think we’re leaving the field feeling good about things.”
Romeo Doubs impersonates Randy Moss, againBrown was the main attraction on Wednesday, but Doubs also had a great day.
The veteran receiver has had multiple highlight-reel catches over the last three practices. On Wednesday, he once again looked like Randy Moss on the Patriots’ practice field. This time, he jumped up and over Mitchell for a big gain on a Maye deep pass.
Doubs had two receptions on Wednesday and looks like he’s completely earned the trust of his quarterback.
DeMario Douglas popsThe Patriots and Eagles started Wednesday with a highly competitive 1-on-1 drill. On the right side of the field, Patriots pass catchers matched up with Eagles defensive backs.
There was one clear winner for the Patriots in this period – DeMario Douglas.
The Patriots slot receiver was dominant in this drill, going 3-0 against Philadelphia cornerbacks. Even more impressive is that all of his reps came against All-Pro cornerback Cooper DeJean.
The second time Douglas was matched up with DeJean, he dominated the cornerback. The slot receiver appeared like he was going to break to the left and instead planted his foot and darted to the right. DeJean completely bit on the fake, running to the wrong side, leaving Douglas wide open for an easy catch.
It was an impressive showing for Douglas, who’s had a good training camp.
Kyle Williams also went 3-0 on Wednesday, beating Eagles cornerback Kelee Ringo. Doubs also had a nice showing, going 2-0 against Woolen and Mitchell.
Craig Woodson dominated Jalen HurtsAmong the Patriots’ defensive highlights, safety Craig Woodson intercepted Hurts twice during the 7-on-7 period.
The Patriots defense forced five interceptions on Wednesday and three in the 7-on-7 drill, with Marcus Jones also intercepting the Eagles’ starting quarterback. Patriots safety John Saunders intercepted Eagles third-string quarterback Cole Payton on Wednesday.
In his second offseason, Woodson has had a good camp and has impressed the veteran in his position group.
“He’s been having a phenomenal camp in my opinion,” Byard said. “Two takeaways today. So I mean, can’t get better than that. But he’s a very mature guy… He obviously played in this defense all last year, started every single game. So it’s not like this is his first time learning anything. So we’ve been helping out each other.”
Mike Vrabel ran into another fightIt wouldn’t be a typical training camp without Mike Vrabel jumping into a fight.
Last year, the Patriots coach made headlines when he jumped into a brawl during the Patriots joint practice with the Washington Commanders. Vrabel emerged from the fray bleeding from his face.
For that reason, it wasn’t a surprise when Vrabel ran into another scrum during the only skirmish that happened on Wednesday. This time, several Patriots and Eagles players got into it after a field goal attempt from Borregales.
It appeared as though some Patriots offensive linemen took exception to something Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter did. When punches were being thrown, Vrabel once again ran into the pile in an attempt to break up the skirmish.
“He still thinks he can get out there and play, and he still wants to,” Milton Williams said. “All that. He’s still talking noise every day, pushing guys, and, you know, that’s what makes him him. And guys are going to continue to get better with him as our coach.”
That marked the only fight in Wednesday’s practice. Williams said he wasn’t surprised when it happened.
“No, it didn’t surprise me at all,” Williams said. Then I looked over there; I saw some Eagle green. I knew exactly who that was, so that ain’t surprising either. But, you know, it’s all good. It’s all good fun, good competition. You know, it’s hot out here. We’re competing. That’s going to happen sometime.”
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