PHILADELPHIA — Normally I wait until after doing the camp report to columnize on what transpired that particular day with the Patriots, but this couldn't wait ...
Basically, the Patriots got their butts kicked by the Eagles during a two-hour session at the practice facility in the shadows of Lincoln Financial Field.
While that's not great, I'm not overly alarmed in the big picture. This is the norm for them in joint practices. The Patriots, according to Bill Belichick's plans, don't practice or hit all that hard in camp compared to other teams. In the first joint practice, the Patriots are always a bit on their heels and don't play well. They rebound the next day. Belichick knows they aren't winning anything in August, so he sticks to his plan. He has six Super Bowl rings. He knows what he's doing.
Plus, the Eagles have a first-time head coach in Nick Sirianni so you're always going to get some High School Harry BS with hard hits (Matt LaCosse was de-cleated by Derek Barnett on a bad and late flat pass by Cam Newton to set the tone) and diving at legs (Damien Harris had to shake off an Eagle diving at his right ankle on his first carry). I'm sure Sirianni will talk about how they need to build a culture and set the tone crap. Whatever. It was BS in the NFL world and I'm sure the Patriots will answer tomorrow after watching the film.
So overall, I'm not worried. Stephon Gilmore will come back and boost the secondary. The Patriots will figure out the personnel in the front seven. They'll be fine on defense — I bet they win the day on Tuesday.
But the Patriots offense? Holy cow. I'm not sure they know whether they're coming or going.
And before you say, "Well, they looked OK against Washington." Preseason games don't tell you anything. In joint practices, both teams run their real offenses and defenses. It's a much better barometer.
And on Monday, the Patriots' offensive barometer read: You've got a long way to go.
Just so everyone is on the same page: the season opener is now 27 days away.
Where do we start?
The Patriots are going to be really good on the offensive line (Fletcher Cox dominated them today, however) and the backs are all good, including rookie Rhamondre Stevenson, who got a noticeable uptick in practice action after his preseason debut.
But, as we saw last year with Newton and the previous year with Tom Brady and a bunch of terrible weapons, a good offensive line and capable running backs only take you so far. Unless you're threatening in the pass game, defenses are going stack the box, stop the run and force you into long yardage.
And that leads us to the Patriots' quarterbacks and the passing game.
Woof.
They both weren't good enough on Monday against the Eagles. Newton was subpar throughout the practice, working almost exclusively with the first-team line (all by three snaps). He started 9 of 14, and ended 4 of 7 to finished 13 of 21 with an interception in the end zone in a gotta-have-it situation.
At least Jones had some success. He looked great starting 11 of 13, but he came back down to Earth when it was just the two teams: 85 players vs, 85 players. He finished 6 of 12 with three dangerous passes that could have been intercepted and was 17 of 25 overall. At least he dialed up a practice-ending TD to N'Keal Harry. You could see his compete level after the play, and it was a nice uplifting note for the Patriots to end things on.
(Meanwhile, Jalen Hurts looked like a Heisman Trophy winner with two actual winners (Newton, DeVonta Smith) on the field. And Joe Flacco ripped through the Patriots like it was a 2000s playoff game.)
I will say, however, that it appeared that the Patriots ran a very vanilla offense. I'm sure Sirianni and the Eagles tried to flex a little — never mind that Josh McDaniels interviewed for the Eagles job (not sure he would have taken it given the oversight there with GM Howie Roseman and owner Jeffrey Lurie). I'm hoping that was the case for the Patriots.
Speaking of the QBs, how long is this QB competition going to go on? For a while, I've been willing to let this thing play out as long as possible, I'm sure Belichick will do that to screw with the Dolphins.
But every creeping day is another one in favor of Jones. Newton's legs are not any better than they were to end last season, when teams were unafraid of his ability to be a threat to keep the ball.
If Jones has another good day tomorrow, he should get equal time with the starting line on Thursday night. He and Newton should split reps with the ones and the twos, and then Belichick should make a decision. At times, it feels fruitless when Newton is forced to throw the ball. With Jones, you have a feeling something great could happen, and you get the sense the players feel that too. Kendrick Bourne walked off the field and yelled, "Love you Mac!" while Jones talked to reporters.
But it's about more than just the QBs with this passing offense.
Nelson Agholor looks great at times, but he struggles at others. Inconsistent.
Probably my biggest worry is Bourne struggling to pick up the intricacies of the passing offense. He's had several issues in past practices running the correct route according to the defense, and he had a big third-down miscue against the Eagles which had Jones, McDaniels and Brian Hoyer all talking to him after the play.
Then you have the Patriots' $25 million tight ends, neither of which were on the field Monday. That's an issue.
Maybe this will all get cleared up in the next week or two. Agholor could settle a bit with some more familiarity. Bourne's issues don't appear to be from a lack of effort or caring. Maybe that will click. Maybe the tight ends will stay on the field and get some good work in.
It would be helpful if the Patriots just went with Jones, but it may be time to name whoever the starter so they can all start working together.
Pair all that with the running game and offensive line, and maybe things will look a lot better against the Dolphins.
It certainly couldn't be any worse than Monday in Philadelphia.