Drake Maye, offense finish strong and other takeaways from Day 9 of Patriots training camp
New England Patriots
A sluggish start for New England’s offense ended with Drake Maye completing 11 of his final 12 passes.
FOXBOROUGH — It wasn’t the sharpest start for Drake Maye and the Patriots offense on Tuesday morning.
But New England’s quarterback and first-team offense had the last laugh in crunch time — turning the tables on the Patriots’ defense during the final team session and two-minute drill and showcasing why he’s holding court as one of the NFL’s top signal-callers going into his third pro season.
Here are five takeaways from Tuesday’s practice in Foxborough:
Maye, Patriots offense catch fire late
Every NFL training camp is rife with stretches where a club’s offense and defense trade decisive victories out on the gridiron. Such was the case on Tuesday, where both sides of the ball for Mike Vrabel’s club can claim some wins.
In New England’s first set of team drills, Drake Maye and the Patriots offense looked out of sorts — with Maye completing just one of five passes and routinely getting sped up and pressured by the likes of Dre’Mont Jones and others.
But Maye rebounded in crunch time — with MassLive’s Mark Daniels marking Maye down for 11 completions on his final 12 attempts to close out practice.
New England’s final 11-on-11 session was a two-minute drill, with Maye completing four of his five passes — including four straight completions to Hunter Henry, DeMario Douglas, Mack Hollins, and A.J. Brown that put kicker Andy Borregales in position to convert a 54-yard field goal to close out practice.
Maye spread the wealth on Tuesday when it came to his targets, but New England’s wideouts were led by Mack Hollins and Kayshon Boutte — who combined for nine catches, including several for big gains.
Hollins has stacked some strong performances together over the last week, while Boutte — whose reps have dipped some since Brown’s improved play — keeps showcasing his deep-threat skillset by regularly snagging contested catches down the field.
All things considered, it was another encouraging performance from Maye — who looks to be in control of Josh McDaniels’ offense and far more adept at overcoming adversity and the inevitable setbacks that sprout up when conducting an NFL offense.
Jones, Patriots defense gives Maye some fits
Even if Drake Maye and the Patriots’ offense landed some punches down the stretch, several defensive players played key roles in that uneven start from New England’s QB1.
Free-agent pickup Dre’Mont Jones has made his presence felt throughout camp as a punishing presence and violent tackler — especially during 1-on-1 battles against offensive linemen.
While Jones obviously can’t bring down Maye during these practices, he did pressure him into an early incompletion off a play-action pass and recorded a “sack” while slipping past New England’s pass protection.
With New England losing K’Lavon Chaisson in free agency and Harold Landry still on the PUP list while recovering from a knee injury, Jones will be counted on heavily to generate pressure this season.
Jones might already be an established veteran, but 2022 third-round pick Chad Muma is quickly rising up the depth chart elsewhere on New England’s defense.
Muma — who was picked up by New England late last season — is carving out a spot as the Patriots’ third linebacker behind Robert Spillane and Christian Elliss on the depth chart. Muma repped with New England’s starting unit on defense Tuesday, and seems to have leapfrogged veteran pickup K.J. Britt so far during camp.
A.J. Brown no worse for wear
Patriots fans had a scare on Monday after A.J. Brown appeared to hurt his hand during New England’s indoor practice while matched up against Christian Gonzalez during a drill.
The team’s training staff briefly attended to the 29-year-old wideout before he returned to the field.
Speaking to NFL Network after practice, Brown revealed that he dislocated his left thumb on the play — but then popped it back into place.
“It was tough,” Brown said. “Obviously the game is what it is and you’re going to get bumps and bruises and you have to keep going. I know it’s practice, but I ain’t coming out of practice. You keep going.”
Despite those painful optics of Brown needing to pop his finger back into place, Mike Vrabel managed to get a laugh when asked about a health update for his top wideout on Tuesday.
“I think he’s going to be OK,” Vrabel replied. “I told him the linemen do that every other snap. And it’s not a national story when a lineman pops his finger back in place. But, we had a little bit of fun with that.”
Brown was a full participant on Tuesday, with Vrabel praising the competitiveness that both Brown and Gonzalez have showcased during their head-to-head battles over the last few weeks.
Beyond their own efforts to win their one-on-one battles, Vrabel stressed that such hard-nosed reps leave a lasting impression on younger players trying to raise their own standards during camp.
“I appreciate what A.J. and Gonzo have done,” Vrabel noted. “Just come in and compete and try to improve. It’s been a good battle. And that’s pro football. I love watching it, and I think that there’s a great amount of respect that each of those players have for each other, and understand that the work they’re putting in now is going to pay dividends in the season.”
“And I think that’s all you can ask from your frontline players — is that they come out and they’re focused on getting better each day and they’re intentional with their work,” Vrabel continued. “When they’re out there, it sends a clear and easy message to the rest of the team about how we’re supposed to challenge and compete. And I think it’s been a good competition.”
Brown once again made his presence felt during the final stretch of Tuesday’s practice — jumpstarting a productive stretch of 11-on-11 play for New England’s first-team offense with three catches on four targets, including two off slant routes.
In terms of attendance for Tuesday’s practice, Carlton Davis III, Reggie Gilliam, Jack Westover, Caedan Wallace, and Cameron Dorner were all absent from the practice field, while Harold Landry, CJ Dippre, and Brenden Schooler remain on the PUP/NFI list.
Douglas vying for featured role on offense
He hasn’t made as many highlight-reel grabs as A.J. Brown or Kayshon Boutte, but Mike Vrabel still doled out plenty of praise for one of the Patriots’ tried-and-true camp producers in DeMario Douglas.
Douglas — now entering his fourth season in New England — has repped with the Patriots’ first-team offense during team drills this summer, operating primarily out of the slot.
The 25-year-old wideout’s shiftiness has been well-documented over the years, but it hasn’t always led to tangible production once the regular season begins. He appeared in 17 games this past season, reeling in 31 catches for 447 yards and three touchdowns.
Given Josh McDaniels’ track record of maximizing the value of shifty slot receivers over the years, Douglas’ uneven production so far has been a bit confounding.
But Vrabel believes that Douglas has routinely answered the bell when called upon over the last year.
“I think the most impressive thing was that he was ready, whether he got 12 snaps or he got 30 snaps,” Vrabel said. “I think some of his best plays were his ability to not catch the football and go and finish. He made plenty of plays for us. But his attitude remained really good.
“I know that every receiver wants to get the ball more, and I think we will continue to try to find ways for Pop to help us and then look at where he can continue to improve. But nobody cares more about the team than Pop Douglas. I think that shows by the way he plays.”
Borregales taking care of business
A kicker competition has usually been a prevailing storyline during NFL training camps — but that doesn’t seem to be the case this summer in New England.
Second-year pro Andy Borregales — after scrapping for a starting job last year with veteran John Parker Romo — looks far more comfortable this year.
The 2025 sixth-round pick out of the University of Miami was a perfect 7-for-7 on attempts Monday, ending with that 54-yard boot to close out New England’s two-minute drill.
“I think he’s made the majority of his field goals, a high majority,” Mike Vrabel said of his kicker ahead of practice. “I think that that’s something that’s a fine balance of where you want your kicker to be. If you feel good about the competition or the job that he did last year, then I’ll just try to evaluate that each week.
“I think he’s continuing to work with [assistant special teams coach] Tom [Quinn] on his steps, the consistency and everything else. So, I know that there — [punter] Bryce [Baringer] does not have any competition either. We’ve got to make sure that those three guys – the more specialists you add, the less that you add on the rest of the roster. So, we try to figure out what is best for the team, and we felt like those guys would be okay without having to have some sort of competition.”
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