![\"Patriots](\"https:\/\/media.nbcsportsboston.com\/2025\/08\/Drake-Maye-Will-Campbell-Hunter-Henry.jpg?quality=85&strip=all\")
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The Patriots returned to their own practice field for an uppers-only practice.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a look at attendance, Mike Vrabel\u2019s most notable soundbites from his pre-practice press conference, and my thoughts on today\u2019s session.<\/p>\n
Absent\/Did Not Participate: <\/strong>WR Javon Baker, WR Kendrick Bourne, CB Christian Gonzalez, WR Efton Chism, ED Anfernee Jennings, RB Terrell Jennings, WR Ja\u2019Lynn Polk, LB Cam Riley, LB Jahlani Tavai, TE Jack Westover, WR Kyle Williams<\/p>\n Eliot Wolf shines some light on WR Efton Chism:<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a guy who went to 2 All-Star Games\u2026No one really guarded him at either. That\u2019s when he came on my radar\u2026Definitely thought he was a draftable talent\u2026Maybe didn\u2019t have the 40-yard dash that was applicable to get him\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/5kSyIexAfH<\/p><\/blockquote>\n On the potential plan for Thursday\u2019s preseason game:<\/strong> \u201cYeah, I think with a quick turnaround, I think we\u2019ll 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\u2019ve got to get back out here. We\u2019ll 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\u2019ll tell me a lot for Thursday night.\u201d<\/p>\n On Drake Maye\u2019s progress:<\/strong> \u201cWell, 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\u2019s continuing to improve and continuing to help us. I like where he\u2019s at, it\u2019s just we\u2019ve got to fix that. We talked to him about not taking a senseless hit outside the pocket on second-and-ten. If there\u2019s nobody there, throw it away, and we\u2019ll 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\u2019re like, why do I want to take a sack? It\u2019s third-down-and-seven and there\u2019s 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\u2019t in the game, they have to put themselves in that position. That\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to do there at the end of the game is to make sure that everybody was watching the situation, whether that\u2019s the last play situations on defense or the five-minute offense with the guys that weren\u2019t in there.\u201d<\/p>\n On reconciling practice versus preseason performance with Javon Baker and Anfernee Jennings:<\/strong> \u201cWell, we don\u2019t 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\u2019s attached and he\u2019s 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\u2019t go your way early, I think maybe it could have been an opportunity to kind of just pack it up. I didn\u2019t 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\u2019s blocking, he\u2019s finishing, he\u2019s trying to make sure that he\u2019s protecting the guy with the ball. So, sometimes it doesn\u2019t always go the way that you anticipate or maybe the stats don\u2019t indicate that. And then for Anfernee, just taking advantage of the opportunity that he got and helped us win.\u201d<\/p>\n On the left guard competition:<\/strong> \u201cWe\u2019ll continue to evaluate that spot and that rotation and where we\u2019re at competing and trying to make sure that we\u2019re giving everybody the opportunity in there, from the center and the left guard, and just trying to figure out what the best combination is.<\/p>\n On Ben Brown\u2019s performance this summer<\/strong>: \u201cBen\u2019s continued to improve. There\u2019s opportunities \u2014 Ben got us going in the run game there early. I thought he did okay. It wasn\u2019t perfect, but Ben finishes, and he\u2019s firm. We\u2019re going to continue to coach all these guys, whether it\u2019s Jared [Wilson] or Ben or Caedan [Wallace], about staying inside out and being patient in their set and timing their punch.\u201d<\/p>\n The Patriots\u2019 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<\/strong> and the starters, as moving the ball proved to be a significant challenge.<\/p>\n There were a few positives, particularly on throws to Hunter Henry<\/strong>. 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<\/strong> also got wide open against Alex Austin <\/strong>for a score in the back of the end zone (Austin got revenge with a pass breakup later in practice), and Mack Hollins<\/strong> caught a deep comeback during end-of-half work.<\/p>\n Outside of those highlights, the passing attack looked alarmingly out of sync, particularly downfield. Maye was picked off twice by the instinctive Robert Spillane, <\/strong>who made up for allowing a tight-window score to Henry by blanketing and intercepting the tight-end\u2019s second red zone target. Spillane\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Other mishaps included Maye missing by yards on a wheel to Stefon Diggs<\/strong> (tight coverage from Marcus Jones<\/strong>), two other seams to Henry, and an Austin Hooper<\/strong> target down the intermediate middle that ended practice. Jabrill Peppers<\/strong> also deflected a Rhamondre Stevenson<\/strong> target near the goal line, and there seemed to be at least two end-of-half plays that would\u2019ve ended in sacks for Harold Landry<\/strong> and Joshua Farmer<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Consistency has been eluded Drake Maye\u2019s 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<\/strong> is asking of his players day-to-day. That said, considering how Maye held to the ball at times against the Vikings, it\u2019s worth wondering if the quarterback is comfortable at this stage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Robert Spillane picked off Drake Maye twice in competitive drills, underscoring a disjointed practice for the offense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":80028,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\nTweet of the Day<\/h2>\n
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Mike Vrabel\u2019s Top Quotes of Note<\/h2>\n
Robert Spillane Intercepts Drake Maye Twice<\/h2>\n