FOXBOROUGH - We’re not yet in the dog days of training camp, but the Patriots are knocking on the door. Monday was the first time that words exchanged between players nearly led to some extracurriculars.
It happened during red zone 7-on-7s. From a condensed split, A.J. Brown had Christian Gonzalez in his face. He took a couple of steps forward before sharply cutting off his outside foot. Gonzalez broke with him, but Drake Maye did what he told us he’d keep doing: give Brown more chances. The short throw was perfect, hitting his top target in stride despite having Gonzalez on his hip and a safety closing quickly over the top.
As Brown reeled in the touchdown, he quickly swung his arm back at the sticky cornerback, and for a moment, it looked like we might have our first scuffle. Instead, cooler heads prevailed. But it might be a matter of time - say tomorrow - before something pops off.
“It's definitely heating up a little bit more, but I think it's been kind of a lot of back and forth throughout training camp,” Kevin Byard said post-practice. “Vrabes (Mike Vrabel) is telling when the offense scores, to go celebrate, (and) we get pissed off…
“I mean, while we're out there, we're against each other, but we're not about to start throwing hands or nothing like that (editor’s note: are you sure, Kevin?). But obviously, as we get closer to these joint practices, you can tell like we're getting to those dog days at camp where you know guys are kind of getting a little sick of each other, and want to go up against somebody else.”
I’m sure it doesn’t surprise you that Vrabel is acting as an instigator, although Byard wouldn't use that word. But as you observe him during practice - as was the case last year - one minute the head coach is encouraging the offense, the next the defense, and in between, there’s a fair chance he’s either giving someone the business or a coaching point. I think he could use a throat lozenge when the session is done.
“Vrabel, he really can't help himself with the back and forth a little bit,” chuckled Byard, “You know, I think it's just kind of - he's a competitor, too. You know what I mean? Like he was like that as a player. I've heard plenty of stories of him being here, getting on scout team, picking off Tom Brady, stuff like that. I think he's just a competitive guy. So he wants his team to have that same competitive spirit.”
Vrabel hasn’t had to worry about that in camp thus far. When it’s been go-time, his players have done just that. But when practice is over, there’s a lot of learning, and that’s not just from coach-to-player, but player-to-player as well.
Sometimes, those teaching moments are there for our eyes to see. Morgan Moses is still in the habit of gathering a younger offensive lineman or two to work on a variety of things, from stance to technique to counters. We’ve seen Maye stay after sessions to throw to any of a number of receivers. But some conversations happen in the locker room, the hallway, or meeting rooms where it’s one teammate trying to help another.
“I'm always looking at their stance, any pass tips, or run tips that they're giving us up front, because I know other ‘D‘ linemen across the league looking at the same thing,” Milton Williams said of talking post-practice to the offensive line. “So if I feel like they're giving away a look, I'm telling them after practice, because I'm gonna use that to my advantage during practice (he smiled) but after, I'm gonna say, I knew y'all was doing this because y'all was leaning this way, y'all was looking a certain way, or some of y'all communication maybe I picked up on … It's just gonna gonna help them in the future and help us continue to grow.”
“I think it's the nature of the family feeling in this building,” Will Campbell said. “As much as we want to kick their ass at practice and they want to kick our ass, you know, we're trying. We want them to get as many sacks as possible. They want us to give up as few as possible, and to see we're all trying to help each other get better because that's the way we're going to be successful during the season.”
This communication doesn’t just happen from one position group to another. It’s also within a group. Byard has been singled out consistently by his new teammates for how he looks at the game and for how inquisitive he has been about what the defense is doing and why they’re doing it.
Third-year pro Dell Pettus’ eyes opened wide when he was asked about how helpful All-Pro safety has been for him and the rest of that room, especially when it comes to ball production.
“No matter what he's doing, it's, how am I going to get the football?” Pettus said. “What can I do to put myself in a better position to get the football? It's something that I took a step back. I was like, I don't think I ever really thought like that. I've always seen-ball get-ball, but he's like really breaking it down in a science type of way of where am I going to be, and how am I putting myself in position to get the football? Because if I can get the football, I'm going to do my job.
“So I mean, you can tell he's a vet. You can tell why he led this league in interceptions last season. I look forward to working with him this season because I feel like all he's going to do is help me be a better player and help everybody around me be a better player.”
Then there’s just the level of competition that takes place within a room. The wide receiver position certainly has more high-level players than in recent memory, and even just average NFL types, which again is a far cry from where it was just a couple of seasons ago. There are conversations they all have with each other, but there’s also just a need to show up and show out every day or risk getting passed by.
“Just setting the standard high,” Romeo Doubs said of the competition, adding, “It just keeps us real detailed in everything that we do, and just making sure that we stay on our P’s and Q’s.”
Some of the very best teams I’ve covered have had this dynamic, where the players do as much pushing of each other - or even more - than the coaching staff has to. The Pats may have only begun year two of the Vrabel experience, but the culture is in a good place and, it appears, only growing stronger by the day.