The Patriots returned to their own practice field for an uppers-only practice.

Here’s a look at attendance, Mike Vrabel’s most notable soundbites from his pre-practice press conference, and my thoughts on today’s session.

Attendance

Absent/Did Not Participate: WR Javon Baker, WR Kendrick Bourne, CB Christian Gonzalez, WR Efton Chism, ED Anfernee Jennings, RB Terrell Jennings, WR Ja’Lynn Polk, LB Cam Riley, LB Jahlani Tavai, TE Jack Westover, WR Kyle Williams

Tweet of the Day

Eliot Wolf shines some light on WR Efton Chism:

“He’s a guy who went to 2 All-Star Games…No one really guarded him at either. That’s when he came on my radar…Definitely thought he was a draftable talent…Maybe didn’t have the 40-yard dash that was applicable to get him… pic.twitter.com/5kSyIexAfH

Mike Vrabel’s Top Quotes of Note

On the potential plan for Thursday’s preseason game: “Yeah, I think with a quick turnaround, I think we’ll have to just manage some of those reps. But yes, obviously try to have a plan. Quick turnaround. These are going to be two important days here. We’ve got to get back out here. We’ll be in the red zone today. And then there will be a group of guys that get a lot of reps tomorrow that are going to be good, important reps. So, based on how that goes, that’ll tell me a lot for Thursday night.”

On Drake Maye’s progress: “Well, I mean, I think that we have to be able to connect on passes like the one to Pop (DeMario Douglas), making sure that both the receiver and the quarterback are on the same page and that the ball placement is where it needs to be. I would say the tipped balls, especially ones that are over the middle of the field or towards the middle of the field, are going to end up intercepted. He’s continuing to improve and continuing to help us. I like where he’s at, it’s just we’ve got to fix that. We talked to him about not taking a senseless hit outside the pocket on second-and-ten. If there’s nobody there, throw it away, and we’ll try to convert on third down. Just being smart and understanding those little details. And then, we talked about late in the game there with Ben [Wooldridge] and being able to coach that five-minute situation where we would want him to take a sack even though as a quarterback, you’re like, why do I want to take a sack? It’s third-down-and-seven and there’s three minutes and 12 seconds left. We force them to call a timeout, or we take 40 seconds off. So, those are great opportunities to learn from. And, again, the quarterbacks that aren’t in the game, they have to put themselves in that position. That’s what we’re trying to do there at the end of the game is to make sure that everybody was watching the situation, whether that’s the last play situations on defense or the five-minute offense with the guys that weren’t in there.”

On reconciling practice versus preseason performance with Javon Baker and Anfernee Jennings: “Well, we don’t ever underestimate the performance in a game, in live action. And, yeah, I think Javon would have liked to have been able to connect on some of those passes and those targets. He stuck with it. I liked where his attitude was and his ability to play on special teams. And then even late in the game to try to block, we threw a screen out there to [John] Jiles, and he’s attached and he’s trying to finish and then found a reception there late. So, I think that shows some growth. I think that could be, for a young player, when it doesn’t go your way early, I think maybe it could have been an opportunity to kind of just pack it up. I didn’t see that from him. And, again, my indication to that is the fact that late in the game we threw a screen to Jiles, as I mentioned, and he’s blocking, he’s finishing, he’s trying to make sure that he’s protecting the guy with the ball. So, sometimes it doesn’t always go the way that you anticipate or maybe the stats don’t indicate that. And then for Anfernee, just taking advantage of the opportunity that he got and helped us win.”

On the left guard competition: “We’ll continue to evaluate that spot and that rotation and where we’re at competing and trying to make sure that we’re giving everybody the opportunity in there, from the center and the left guard, and just trying to figure out what the best combination is.

On Ben Brown’s performance this summer: “Ben’s continued to improve. There’s opportunities — Ben got us going in the run game there early. I thought he did okay. It wasn’t perfect, but Ben finishes, and he’s firm. We’re going to continue to coach all these guys, whether it’s Jared [Wilson] or Ben or Caedan [Wallace], about staying inside out and being patient in their set and timing their punch.”

Robert Spillane Intercepts Drake Maye Twice

The Patriots’ first practice back in Foxborough was focused primarily on scouting and competitive drills simulating hurry-up, red zone, and end of half situations. Those full-speed sessions were rough for Drake Maye and the starters, as moving the ball proved to be a significant challenge.

There were a few positives, particularly on throws to Hunter Henry. The veteran safety blanket worked the seam during hurry-up, caught a contested back-shoulder touchdown in red zone 7-on-7s, and had a crosser completion during a 55-second drive. Kayshon Boutte also got wide open against Alex Austin for a score in the back of the end zone (Austin got revenge with a pass breakup later in practice), and Mack Hollins caught a deep comeback during end-of-half work.

Outside of those highlights, the passing attack looked alarmingly out of sync, particularly downfield. Maye was picked off twice by the instinctive Robert Spillane, who made up for allowing a tight-window score to Henry by blanketing and intercepting the tight-end’s second red zone target. Spillane’s second takeaway was a gift from Maye, who threw high over the middle without a clear target to end the first end-of-half series.

Other mishaps included Maye missing by yards on a wheel to Stefon Diggs (tight coverage from Marcus Jones), two other seams to Henry, and an Austin Hooper target down the intermediate middle that ended practice. Jabrill Peppers also deflected a Rhamondre Stevenson target near the goal line, and there seemed to be at least two end-of-half plays that would’ve ended in sacks for Harold Landry and Joshua Farmer.

Consistency has been eluded Drake Maye’s passing attack in recent weeks, and this was the most glaring example. It must always be stressed that practice is the place to make mistakes, and we have no idea what Josh McDaniels is asking of his players day-to-day. That said, considering how Maye held to the ball at times against the Vikings, it’s worth wondering if the quarterback is comfortable at this stage.