FOXBOROUGH - Who won? Who lost? We want to know. That's what professional sports are all about. Sometimes though, it’s not that black-and-white. There are variables involved, and while this may not surprise you - if you’ve heard my complaints over the years about training camp stats - I have some when I view these training camp practices for the Patriots.
First, how competitive is the drill/period? I’ve seen plenty of reps this year - and in years past - where a defensive back doesn’t make attempt to make a play on the ball, or tracks it and then eases up so there’s no incidental contact that could lead to someone getting hurt.
Second, how long does the quarterback hold the ball? Once we get past 3 to 4 seconds, in a real game, you have chaos (unless you have a Lamar, Hurts, Allen or Mahomes at QB). So if Mac Jones or Bailey Zappe start running around and patting the ball, I’m out. Whatever happens after that, assuming the line has broken down, is null and void.
And lastly, when it comes to receiver versus defensive backs in one-on-ones, any shorter, in-breaking routes should always be won by the receiver. Why? There are no linemen impeding the view of the quarterback. There is no traffic. No underneath coverage. So if you as the receiver don’t win, you either hacked your way through the route, the QB missed you or the DB made a play. In fact, if the DB makes a play on a good ball, that’s about as good as you can get in this drill, in my view.
With that said, rather than do overall won/loss records of receivers vs DBs, I’m highlighting the biggest and best wins of the four sessions you saw through the first two weeks of camp.
Myles Bryant fared better than any corner defending routes run between the hashes. His best? He did a terrific job undercutting JuJu Smith-Schuster and knocked away a strong throw by Jones. He also had success against Smith-Schuster outside the numbers as well, breaking up a corner/out cut, and did the same to Tre Nixon.
The single best rep defensively? Give me Quandre Mosely, who actually had Kayshon Boutte so well covered that Mac Jones didn’t even bother throwing the ball. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that before. No matter what happens, Mosely will always have that (an aside: I kinda like Mosely. Feels very practice squad-y to me.)
Second-year corner Marcus Jones had a couple of his better practices to close this week. He gave up all kinds of size on DeVante Parker, who’s been plucking passes of guys' heads every other practice, but stuck to the 6-3 pass catcher and recorded a pass breakup on a fade. Throw was solid. The coverage was better.
Christian Gonzalez had a couple of really nice moments on deeper throws, showing over that size/speed combo platter that helped make him a first-rounder. He went stride for stride with JuJu on a seam shot, recording a PBU, then showed incredible patience (and physicality) mirroring Boutte as he made about a half-dozen moves on what turned out to be an in-breaking route. No way Boutte would have been able to use all these moves but the fact that Gonzalez stayed with him was impressive. The Oregon product also sniffed out a stutter-and-go from Tyquan Thornton, forcing an incompletion.
On offense, Raleigh Webb sure has had his moments in camp. He had multiple clean wins in one-on-ones, beating Marcus Jones on a corner route, spinning Isaiah Bolden on an out cut, and getting Bolden again on a different day with a beautiful double move, pump-and-go down the field.
Kendrick Bourne had a great first day of one-on-ones, elevating over Jack Jones on a comeback that wasn’t thrown perfectly and then dusting Jack on a corner route. The next day, I liked how he sold a go route before making a hard cut toward the sideline, beating Bryant back to the football.
Rookie Demario Douglas didn’t lose a rep in this drill over the four days they did it, but a majority of those were over the middle of the field. His best outside rep was a corner route where he stacked Marcus Jones and then broke toward the corner, leaving the speedy Jones in his wake.
Others of note:
- Thornton flashing his hands on a comeback route vs. Mosely. The ball wasn’t thrown well. It was behind him and it was low. Really nice play.
- Boutte spun Bryant like a top on one rep. Bryant got caught guessing. He chose poorly.
- Smith-Schuster lined up in the slot, drew contact with Rodney Randle, then used his body to shield a fade, which he tracked nicely over his right shoulder. Not an easy catch, but he made it look that way.
Overall, Douglas had the most “wins” during one-on-ones, with eight. Bourne followed with six, and I had Parker, Smith-Schuster, Boutte and Nixon with four each. The only receivers I had at .500 or less were Smith-Schuster (4-4) and Thyrick Pitts (winless).
I won’t tag the DBs with losses. The biggest winner was Bryant (3). Gonzalez, Mosely and Marcus Jones all finished with two wins each.