FOXBOROUGH — Some key takeaways from Monday's two-hour practice, including our first three up/three down of the new season:
• The Patriots will not practice all three days. They'll be off Tuesday for a community event — "We're going to do something special tomorrow, which we think is important for the state," Jerod Mayo said. — and back on the field Wednesday morning for the final time before training camp.
• Among those in attendance: Robert Kraft, Julian Edelman, James White and BC assistant coach Paul Pasqualoni.
• Mayo said everyone was in the house for minicamp but several players didn't take part: OLB Josh Uche, WR Kendrick Bourne, OL Cole Strange, LB Jahlani Tavai, OL Jake Andrews, LB Sione Takitaki, NT Davon Godchaux. CB Jonathan Jones, WR Javon Baker and RB Deshaun Fenwick didn't take part fully.
• Drake Maye was even more solidified as the No. 2 QB behind Jacoby Brissett. Reps in team: Brissett 30, Maye 29, Bailey Zappe 13, Joe Milton 6.
• The most interesting thing to me was the alignment of the offensive line with everyone here, namely that Caeden Wallace didn't take one snap on the left side, and at one point in team, the Patriots slid Mike Onwenu to RG and inserted Wallace at RT.
The line depth chart:
LT: Chuck Okorafor/Calvin Anderson/Tyrone Wheatley
LG: Sidy Sow/Michael Jordan/Ryan Johnson
C: David Andrews/Atonio Mafi/Charles Turner
RG: Nick Leverett/Layden Robinson/Robinson
RT: Mike Onwenu/Caeden Wallace/Verderian Lowe
Jordan left practice after a scuffle.
• In the first team period, Brissett capped the long drive with a third-down touchdown strike to Ja'Lynn Polk, who made a nice snag in the back of the end zone. He was 5 of 7 (drop by Tyquan Thornton) with a sack on the drive.
• Maye's drive was also capped with a TD to TE La'Michael Pettway on a fortunate jump ball against safety Jaylinn Hawkins. Maye was 4 of 5 with a bad overthrow of TE Mitchell Wilcox that wasn't close. Maye also had a nice quick scramble on 3rd and 5 that didn't seem to be a designed run but could have been. Showed off his athletic ability.
• Full field 7 on 7: Brissett 4 of 4, Maye 3 of 4 but he took a long time to find open targets; Zappe 3 of 4.
• Red zone 7 on 7: Brissett 2 of 6 2 TDs, Maye 3 of 3 3 TDs, Zappe 2 of 3 2 TDs.
Probably Maye's best period of the offseason practices. He threw TDs to Jalen Reagor, Jaheim Bell and Kayshon Boutte.
Polk had 2 TDs in the period.
• The next team period was situational work. 1:32 on the clock. None of the 4 QBs moved the ball much. Brissett and Maye were sacked to end their drives. Zappe threw a pick-six to Kyle Dugger on his only rep. Milton was incomplete on 4th down.
Maye did complete 5 of 7 most were of the short and checkdown variety.
He had one rep, an incompletion deep right to Reagor, that illustrated some of his struggles when the pass rush is involved (he's been pretty good 7 on 7). He dropped back, stayed in the pocket, stood flat-footed and just winged it down the field into coverage against Brenden Schooler. It was kind of hero ball, the kind of stuff they need to coach out of him.
Brissett was 1 of 4 with a Bentley sack.
• In the no-huddle drive for a FG, Brissett mounted the only drive that produced a try. He was 2 of 4.
Maye was 3 of 4 but a sack knocked them out of range. He did have a nice 3rd and 10 completion to Polk ... and it might have been a no-look pass.
THREE UP
WR Ja'Lynn Polk: Thought he was awesome today. Just looks like a pro with his body control and the way he catches the ball with his hands. I said this last week, and I'm sure I'll say it every week: every day you watch Polk, the more impressed you are with him.
LT Chuck Okorafor: This is really tough to gauge but I thought him being back on the left side settled things a bit. I didn't sense all that much pressure from the left side. It was mostly on the other side.
QB Drake Maye: Through four practices now, my impression is he's pretty good 7 on 7 but when the pass rush is involved, he struggles a bit. Nothing all that surprising, but it illustrates the long road he's on. He's red zone 7 on 7 period was pinpoint and exciting to watch.
THREE DOWN
C/G Atonio Mafi: I know he's being pressed into service with Jake Andrews out at center, but his snaps have been wildly inconsistent. Pretty sure he got benched for Leverett at one point.
WR Tyquan Thornton: Caught a red zone touchdown but his drop on a slant on the first play of team left a bad taste, like he was scared to be in there.
TE Hunter Henry: He hasn't been bad or anything, but he hasn't been much of a factor while other TEs are flashing. I'm wondering if he's lost a step. Something to monitor going forward.