☀️ Weather: Sunny
👔 Dress Code: Pads
📋 Practice Script: Kickoff, Punt, 11-on-11, 11-on-11 (Red Zone), Live Tackling
☑️ ATTENDANCE
Matt Judon was a full-go at padded practice for the third day in a row, but media availability after practice cast doubt on his future with the team. The edge rusher walked to the mic with Jahlani Tavai, who jokingly served as Judon’s speaker for the first few questions. Once Judon began answering for himself, his demeanor was far less energetic and outgoing than usual.
The edge rusher began by giving his perspective on last Monday’s incident, telling reporters:
“We had a conversation. I didn’t want to be distracting to the team, so I went inside. I wasn’t participating in those drills that day, so I went inside. Then I got a message, so I came back to talk to our GMs, then I went back inside. Sorry, I’m animated, and I talk with my hands, but I’m gonna start talking like this (stands straight up) and not be so animated.”
Judon mentioned his financial obligation to be on the field but reiterated his desire to remain in New England. He also avoided questions about social media, what he wants in a new deal, and whether the two sides are close to a new contract. Based on Judon’s demeanor, answer avoidance, and recent lack of engagement with fans before practice, I’m guessing the edge rusher is still far from happy.
Over in the offensive trenches, the Patriots continue to take hits. This afternoon, the team placed interior lineman Jake Andrews on injured reserve, days after tackle Tyrone Wheatley Jr. reverted to IR. Chukwuma Okorafor was also sidelined for a second straight practice. In more positive news, David Andrews was a full participant for the first time since he returned to the field last week. Calvin Anderson was also back in action after missing Saturday’s session, though the left foot he injured on Friday was tapped up. He was the top right tackle in place of Okorafor.
Tyquan Thornton also returned, participating in one-on-one and Red Zone drills but nothing involving live tackling. He missed his first practice of the summer on Saturday.
Jabrill Peppers was in the mix on defense, which wasn’t the case on Saturday despite the safety being in full pads. Shaun Wade shed his red non-contact jersey and continued to look competitive. Safeties Marte Mapu and Joshuah Bledsoe were not spotted at practice.
Joshua Uche and Jaheim Bell, who’s missed the last few practices with an apparent injury, were on the field in pads but didn’t participate.
Jonathan Jones and Trysten Hill were seen walking off the field with trainers in the latter portion of team drills.
Newly signed long snapper Tucker Addington was at practice. He spent time in New England during the 2022 season.
⛑️ Physically Unable to Perform
🫥 Absent
🛑 Red Non-Contact
🙅♂️ Limited / Did Not Participate
🏃🏾♂️Returns
🤕 Injuries
📰 STORY OF THE DAY
Defense Dominates on Most Physical Day of the Summer
The first live tackling periods of camp were dominated by New England’s defense. It may not have been a fair fight given the offense’s tackle situation, but they couldn’t get anything going on in a run-heavy practice.
The group’s few positive runs felt like Herculean efforts from ball-carriers. Rhamondre Stevenson, Antonio Gibson, Kevin Harris, and Terrell Jennings had to churn their legs hard after initial contact, with Harris getting whacked in the backfield on one impressive display of contact balance.
The defensive front didn’t let up on dropbacks. Neither Jacoby Brissett nor Drake Maye could sit comfortably in the pocket and would’ve been sacked multiple times. Coverage was also smothering for much of practice, including a Maye throw to that bounced off Jacob Warren’s hands and was picked by A.J. Thomas.
Things weren’t pretty for the offense, but the quarterbacks continued to make strides. All four passers had showed poise and accuracy during Red Zone and one-on-one periods. Brissett and Maye’s anticipation popped at times, including a Ja’Lynn Polk corner that Maye threw well before his receiver’s break.
Polk wasn’t the only rookie receiver with an impressive grab. Baker had two stand-out touchdown grabs, including a fade where he fought off Marco Wilson and showed late hands at the catch-point.
At the end of one-on-ones, the defense was forced to do push-ups after Maye dropped a fade in the bucket to Jalen Reagor.
Maye also showed plus awareness during 11-on-11s in the low Red Zone, tucking and running for a score on 4th & 2 when his first two options weren’t open.
It was encouraging to see the rookie, who said last week he wanted to air it out more, take two shots against single coverage. The first may have been a poor read from Osborn, but the pass went off the tip of the receiver’s fingers and fell incomplete. The second was an overthrow to Baker on a sticky rep from Christian Gonzalez.
So while the majority of practice was ruled by the Patriots’ defense, there were glimmers of growth on offense.
📈 STOCK UP
Ja’Whaun Bentley
The multi-time captain led the charge for New England’s dominant front today. He was consistently in the mix on run stuffs, batted a Brissett pass while blitzing, and grabbed a deflected pass near the goal line for what would’ve been a pick six.
K.J. Osborn
K.J. Osborn has well exceeded my expectations this summer, and I’m happy to eat crow. His hot streak in the Red Zone and one-on-ones continued with two impressive wins.
First, he fought through physical coverage from Alex Austin and made a diving grab to connect with Brissett.
The duo showed their rapport again on a later rep, with Brissett making an anticipation throw that hit Osborn the moment he turned around.
Osborn may have misjudged a deep bomb from Maye, but he and Brissett have been a well-oiled machine since the pads came on. The former Viking and Hunter Henry are looking like Brissett’s top targets entering preseason.
Bailey Zappe and Joe Milton continued to split third quarterback reps. Both have looked solid during one-on-ones and Red Zone drills, but Zappe stood out on a few dropbacks today. These highlights included a perfect fade to Baker, a backshoulder ball to Kayshon Boutte with Isaiah Bolden in perfect coverage, and the aforementioned throw to Smith-Schuster. That may have been Zappe’s best day of camp.
Dell Pettus
Dell Pettus is now stacking positive practices with another physical day. He capitalized on live tackling with some loud collisions, though he may have been overzealous on a Hunter Henry target where he jumped on a pile before the tight end was down. Rookie mistake.
It’s also notable that Pettus was getting run with the top secondary.
📉 STOCK DOWN
Offensive Line
I want to credit the Patriots’ defensive front for their performance, but the offensive line’s injuries and fall-off can’t be ignored. Every padded rep matters for trench players, particularly in the run game. The stability on the starting interior should be acknowledged, but both tackle spots are now in flux.
Vederian Lowe has now matched Caedan Wallace’s four days at left tackle, but recent developments could throw a wrench in their rotation plans. Wallace was already forced to pull double-duty today, playing both left and right tackle as a member of the second and third offenses.
This may not prove to be a long-term issue, but losing precious padded reps to build chemistry could hurt early on.
Tyquan Thornton
Tyquan Thornton wasn’t all bad today. He actually had one of his best reps of the summer in one-on-ones, smoking Christian Gonzalez on a slant target from Brissett. It was also positive seeing him back on the field after his absence on Saturday.
Thornton lands on this list because he didn’t participate in live tackling drills, a sign that he’s dealing with some kind of ailment. Thornton also had a tough drop when running routes on air and jumped back in line for a redo.
New England has made it clear with his deployment that Thornton is their starting X, so they may not mind playing it safe. But as an outsider, it’s hard to ignore the growing blemishes on what had been a perfect summer attendance record.
JuJu Smith-Schuster
Like Thornton, JuJu Smith-Schuster had his moments today. In fact, if not for the bad, it would’ve been his best day of camp.
The veteran shook Marcellas Dial out of his shoes during one-on-ones, leading to an easy pitch-and-catch.
Smith-Schuster also made an impressive grab up the seam after being thrown open by Bailey Zappe.
Unfortunately, he also had multiple drops, had a target broken up by Shaun Wade, and continues to struggle creating consistent separation. It looked like Smith-Schuster was in his head, looking visibly down on himself after one drop.
Once again, I don’t want to pile on the guy. It was actually cool seeing him make some vintage JuJu plays. There’s just too little consistency from a player very much on the fringes.
📓 LEFTOVERS
FOXBOROUGH - It was an overtime thriller in Foxborough as the Patriots played their home…
In a battle between two first-year head coaches in Jerod Mayo and Mike Macdonald, it…
Bobby Manning welcomes Wes Goldberg from Locked On Heat and RealGM Radio to discuss whether…
Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez has had quite the litany of tests to begin his NFL…
Josue Pavon and Cedric Maxwell are joined by A. Sherrod Blakely to discuss a variety…
The Seattle Seahawks edged out a 23-20 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday.…