FOXBOROUGH - Mike Vrabel had planned to end the final practice of mandatory minicamp a little early, but when Bradyn Swinson collided with Drake Maye, sending both players to the ground, enough was enough.
The two lingered on the ground for a second before getting to their feet. Neither appeared to be the worse for wear, and Swinson certainly seemed to be sharing his side of the story with the coaches. But that put a wrap on spring ball. The next time we see the Patriots all gathered together will be July 25, the first day of training camp.
“When you don’t have a lot of expectations, you can’t be disappointed,” Vrabel said when asked about how the offseason program had gone. “I just felt like there hasn’t been much complacency. I think the guys have worked. We’ve had great leadership, added some good leaders and good pieces, and we are continuing to build and hopefully prepare for a long journey.”
Onto observation made from day No. 3, a far more spirited practice than any we’ve seen this spring.
ABSENCES: Morgan Moses, Harold Landry, Gabe Jacas and TE Jack Westover (that was new).
Neither Christian Gonzalez nor Kayshon Boutte participated in any of the 11-on-11 periods. Considering Gonzalez didn’t do that on day one (day two was a walkthrough), no change there. But Boutte’s lack of involvement was new.
- The red zone was once again the focus. None of the work, either in team or skeleton, was done outside the 20-yard line. This has been a clear emphasis for both sides of the ball to improve in that area, especially defensively.
“During the season, I believe we had the fewest amount of trips to the red zone, which is a good thing,” defensive coordinator Zak Kukr told us. “Now we were not anywhere near where we wanted to be, as far as production down in there, but you know, is that a lack of reps or whatnot, as far as within the game? You know, I don't know that.”
But Kuhr noted the defense is working on trying some new things and some “enhancements” in these situations, and “the guys are hearing the concepts and the words for the second straight year, and they kind of understand a little bit better, and then the communication is a little bit better.”
That showed late in practice, where the defense turned the tide on the offense and gained the upper hand. Veteran cornerback Kindle Vildor stood strong against Mack Hollins on a fade to the back left corner of the end zone, forcing an incomplete pass.
Safety Kevin Byard showed great hands, stripping Romeo Doubs of a touchdown along the back end line.
Both Christian Elliss and Marcus Jones would have had sacks of Maye if, you know, they were allowed to put the QB on the turf.
Earlier in the first team period, Elliss did a nice job of sniffing out a screen pass to Rhamondre Stevenson, and corner Charles Woods locked up Kyle Williams and recorded a PBU.
PLAY OF THE DAY
You want to get excited? The Maye-to-A.J. Brown on-field relationship showed some signs of growth and resulted in two touchdown passes, the second of which deserves a chef’s kiss.
Brown was headed to the corner of the end zone, with Vildor in tight coverage. Maye didn’t even wait to make eye contact with the veteran wideout, throwing the ball before Brown had even turned. When he did, the soon-to-be 29-year-old located the ball, flipped his hips smoothly, turned his back to the ball, turned again, and then completed the reception. Overpay, you say? I got your overpay right here (that was me pretending I was in Vrabel’s head during that moment).
“Drake started on the right side, but he came back to me a little late, and he threw the ball as a back shoulder,” Brown said. “It was a great ball, back shoulder, and I just kind of turned my head. Obviously, the DB doesn’t know where the ball is, so, and my background playing baseball in center field, turning over shoulder, looking over the shoulder. It’s a tough catch, and I’m just glad I got my feet down.”
There’s a lovefest already brewing between the two men, and early signs of a chemistry that, say Doubs, is still chasing.
“He can make any throw, but I think what’s more impressive to me is that he knows what he’s doing, and to be that young, and to understand the defense, and to understand every little check, the hots, the blitz, and all those things, so young and so fast, it’s very impressive," Brown said. "So, I really admire that he knows what he’s talking about. He demands everybody else to know as well. He’s a true leader of men, and it’s crazy to see at a young age.”
“It's hard not to get excited,” Maye said on Wednesday. “What a player he is, and just right off the bat, what a great teammate so far. He was eager to learn. He's great with the guys in the locker room, and we just look forward to playing with a guy of that caliber.
“I know he's been a great player in this league. He's gone everywhere. He's been a guy that you see on SportsCenter the next day, making plays and scoring. The best thing about him, he's been a winner. He knows what it's like to win, and he's someone in that room that we were looking for.”
Brown said the plan is to get together with Maye at some point during the break to throw and continue to build chemistry.
- Maye finished the day 10-for-20 (it pains me to give you stats from a minicamp session). He may have thrown a TD pass to TreVeyon Henderson in the back right corner of the end zone, but with no refs, it’s hard to know if he got his feet in. Defense didn’t think so. Offense did. A couple of plays later, he hit Doubs for a score (over Kobee Minor and Mike Brown).
In the second set of plays, Maye hit rookie TE Eli Raridon for a touchdown in the right flat. (Raridon had an earlier drop.)
Later, he found Henderson (blew past Elliss) in the back of the end zone, then fired a rocket to Hunter Henry coming across the formation right at the goal line.
- Tommy DeVito was, well, Tommy DeVito. 5-for-11 and 3 TDs (again, all plays were run from various spots inside the 20). He did zip one in there to Efton Chism, and Chism promptly threw the ball 30 yards in the air to celebrate. UDFA TE Tanner Arkin (on LB Khalil Jacobs) and Kyle Williams (against CB Brandon Crossley) had the other scores.
- Rookie Behren Morton got some work as well, and went 4-for-7 with scores to UDFA WR Jimmy Kibble (vs. John Saunders) and UDFA WR Kyle Dixon (over Crossley).
- There was a lot of talk back and forth between offense and defense, including the coaching staffs. It was all in good fun - mostly - and kept the players fully engaged even though summer break is here (rookies will stick around a little longer).
“Yeah, that’s what you want,” Brown smiled. “That’s when the real dogs come out. … But all that talking, it’s just talk. You gotta play at the end of the day. So, if you can back it up, I don’t care. Bark, if you like.”
- Offensive line combinations remained the same. With Moses sidelined, Caleb Lomu handled the lion’s share of the work as the starting right tackle. Marcus Bryant did get a few reps and had one false start (they played on). The rest, from left to right, were Will Campbell, Alijah Vera-Tucker, Jared Wilson and Mike Onwenu. Vrabel singled out the two second-year starters before practice.
“I think it’s been really good to see him (Campbell) and Jared push that group,” he said. “So, I’m excited about that.”
I don’t recall a single bad snap from Wilson during these three days.
- As I promised, I asked Vrabel if, like tight end, he felt the Patriots needed to add help at edge, what with Landry recovering from knee surgery and Jacas being unsigned and coming off a “procedure.” The answer surprised me.
“No, that’s a good group,” he responded. “I’m excited about adding Dre'[Mont Jones], the development of [Elijah] Ponder and [Bradyn] Swinson. We added [Jesse] Luketa and some young guys. Again, we’ll continue to try to look at every position and make it stronger, but that group has done a nice job. Again, we’ll continue to look at it, but we’ll have to see where we are at numbers-wise, and when we get into training camp, just how many guys you can rep, based on the practices.”
He later noted that Swinson is in better shape this year, and the coaching staff publicly has been very high on second-year pro Ponder, who’s gotten all the reps opposite Jones with the starting defense.