FOXBOROUGH - Practice No. 8 of 2024 is in the books; let's run down all you need to know: all the stats, 3 up/down, and odds and ends:
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Matthew Judon was not a full participant: Yes, Judon was there. Yes, he wore shoulder and helmets (he didn't appear to have lowers on, wearing running pants), but he didn't do one-on-ones and tapped out of the first full-team series after just one rep. He was more involved in the session later in the day, but from my vantage point, it felt like he was back into go-along-to-get-along mode. Don't get me wrong. It's been quiet with him since the Wednesday afternoon tweet (that's good), and my understanding is he would be willing to take a shorter deal, but the money gap hasn't been bridged now for 7 months.
Drake Maye is playing conservatively: A large number of his throws are within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. Some of that is smart. As he told us today, there was a play that called for a deep shot, but the secondary was playing cover 2, so he wisely checked down.
Tempo leaves something to be desired: Today was once again a ponderous session. A lot of time between snaps and some uncertainty offensively on what they were doing or how they were supposed to do it. The West Coast install tends to be slow, but they had the spring and over a week in training camp to run more plays and do so more efficiently. I don't see that yet.
TAKING ATTENDANCE
Physically unable to perform list: C Jake Andrews, WR Kendrick Bourne, LG Cole Strange, LB Sione Takitaki
Non-football injury list: None.
Red non-contact jerseys: CB Shaun Wade, WR Demario Douglas.
Returned to practice: Jabril Peppers (limited)
Out: DT Christian Barmore, S Marte Mapu, TE Jaheim Bell, Marcus Jones
New injuries: Calvin Anderson went down with what appeared to be an ankle/Achilles injury but fought his way back onto the field. Several other players seemed to deal with heat-related issues.
DRESS CODE
Full pads
LENGTH OF PRACTICE
2:10. Unpleasant. Humid. Gross. I envy Bedard being in parts unknown (he's back Saturday. I know you're happy to hear that).
QB STATS
Team periods
Jacoby Brissett: 12 of 21 (not counting spikes), 2 TD (1 of 2; 3 of 5, TD; 2 of 3; 6 of 11, TD)
Drake Maye: 7 of 9 (not including spikes), 2 sacks — (1 of 1, sack; 2 of 3; sack; 3 of 3; 1 of 2, pass tipped) *the two sacks were clear pressures, though Maye is pretty nimble in the pocket and it's possible he could have escaped or shrugged off a defender. No one can hit the QB in these things, but he wasn't holding and causing the pressure himself)
Joe Milton: 1 of 1, sack
7 on 7 in the red zone
Brissett: 3 of 4, 3 TDs, sack (yes, a sack. He held the ball too damn long before completing a check-down to Stevenson. Others will give it to them. I will not. That's horse bleep).
Maye: 3 of 5, 2 TDs. One of the incompletes was wisely done, as both his targets on a rollout were well-covered.
Milton: 3 of 5, 2 TDs
Play breakdown of 7 on
Brissett (5 plays)
- Beautiful read by Douglas, uncovering by a large margin on what could best be described as a seam shot. Jon Jones and Kyle Dugger were the closest defenders. TD.
- Sack. Brissett held the ball for an eternity, then eventually flung it sideways to Stevenson.
- Osborn, on an out/corner, bails Brissett out on a ball behind him but over Christian Gonzalez's shoulder. The vet WR was pumped.
- Now in the low red zone, finds Jalen Reagor in the back of the end zone. Good footwork by Reagor. Marco Wilson was in coverage. TD.
- A fade to Reagor with too much on it sailed over the receiver's head. Alex Austin was in coverage.
Maye (5 reps)
- Pumps tries to reset his feet and throws a short crosser to Ja'Lynn Polk. Maye struggles when he has to reset his feet. Often, he doesn't, and it results in three-quarter arm angles and balls that either aren't as accurate as they should be or have a little less on them.
- Hits Javon Baker on a skinny pot for a potential TD, but from my view, it appeared Baker only got one foot in bounds. Isaiah Bolden was a step behind.
- Kayshon Boutte returns hard to the ball on a comeback as Maye scrambles out of the pocket. Maye tells us he will run around. That's part of who he is. Getting him on the move has been the most comfortable he's been in practice so far. TD.
- La'Michael Pettway on a corner route. Brenden Schooler was late getting over. TD. Good ball. “Red zone is all about accuracy,” Maye said. “Fitting it into tight windows, being on time. That matters, more and more. Sometimes, some of these throws, the first time I’m throwing that route against a real guy.
- Scrambling to his right again, Maye realizes both JuJu and Boutte are tightly covered and throws a low heater toward the front pylon, knowing that it was likely to be incomplete but not intercepted. It was incomplete.
Note: I do not have the number of reps that some other writers have because I do not count when the offense is "working off cards." Those are plays when an assistant coach brings out a play on a card and shows it to one side of the ball. They are not running their own plays, so since there are so many x-factors — including the receiver running the right route and blockers executing correctly — so I do not count those reps.
ONE ON ONES
A mountain of reps going on at the same time on both fields. My eyes stayed on whatever field Maye was on.
(Brissett)
Hooper on a stop cut vs. Jaylinn Hawkins
Stevenson out of the backfield in the right flat
Antonio Gibson, out of the backfield, gets open in the right flat vs. LB Joe-Giles Harris.
(Maye)
Pettway to the post. Nice ball. Dell Pettus trailing in coverage
Kevin Harris in the right flat (William Bradley-King)
Throws behind Mitchell Wilcox. Schooler with a PBU.
Jacob Warren stop vs. Thomas.
RB Terrell Jennings gets inside on LB Steele Chambers
Hooper goes up and gets one on Dugger, though he was hobbled briefly
Stevenson shook the hell out of Raekwon McMillian
Hawkins locks up Henry. No throw
Gibson gets inside of Christian Elliss coming out of the backfield
(Zappe)
Hits Wilcox on a corner route (Pettus)
(Milton)
Rips a throw to Osborn on an inside release and crosser (Jon Jones)
Incomplete to Kawaan Baker on a corner route vs Wade. Ball behind.
Hard out to Javon Baker. Nice cut. Marcellas Dial in coverage.
(Maye)
Comeback to JaQuae Jackson (Mikey Victor)
Polk beats Gonzalez on an over route. Gonzo was briefly shaken up.
Incomplete to Boutte on a crosser. Wilson was on him.
(Brissett)
Tyquan Thornton on a deep over, leaving Azizi Hearn well behind him.
Reagor wins on a hard comeback versus a DB who had his jersey tucked under his pads, so your guess is as good as mine as to who it was.
Javon Baker on a dig, creating lots of separation vs. Bolden.
Overshoots Osborn on a go route vs Dial.
Smith-Schuster runs a short option route and catches it despite being tightly covered by Wade.
MAYE REPORT
Dialing down on the top draft pick in team periods
This was Maye's series in the first team session:
Handoff to JaMychal Hasty
Harris runs into a mass of humanity
Harris run
Play action, hitting Wilcox in the right flat. He looks so comfortable on the move off these plays. In rhythm.
Play action, and Anderson gets blown up, forcing Maye to tuck and run. This was the play Anderson got hurt on, stopping the session for a couple minutes.
Second series (played with tempo):
Incomplete on a slant to Smith-Schuster. Route undercut by Hearn. Subpar route. Subpar throw.
Flushed out of the pocket by Bradley-King. Runs.
Quick out to Douglas
Clocks it
Hits Wilcox on a checkdown. Wilcox fumbles, though it may have come after the whistle.
Clocks it again.
Third series:
Hits Polk on a stop route (Victor)
Play action, and fires one to Reagor on a curl/stop. Good ball.
Bad snap by Atonio Mafi. Covers it up.
Hits Javon Baker on a crossing route. Zappe gives him a low-five after the play.
Fourth series:
Quick throw to Jennings in the left flat.
Jennings runs to nowhere.
Pass tipped at the line of scrimmage. Slow release. Hasty the intended target at shallow LB depth.
HANDS TEAM
Drops: Henry
Pass breakups: Anfernee Jennings, Hawkins, Gonzalez, Hearn, Schooler, Team
Interception: None.
Sacks: Bradley-King. Team 2x
TOP PLAYS
Osborn's touchdown catch over Gonzalez. Great concentration and completed the catch even after bouncing on the turf.
Hawkins broke up a possible TD from Brissett to Hooper. The veteran safety has made a nice case for himself.
Douglas abused the defense in the red zone on that read route where he scooted in the seam.
THREE UP
WR Pop Douglas: He initially came out in the regular white jersey before returning to the red non-contact, but he was active in all facets. The passing offense is just better with him in it. "He pops out on the tape, no pun intended," Brissett said post-practice.
K Chad Ryland: He didn't handle the competition very well in the spring, but the second-year kicker was a perfect 5-of-5 today and has put Joey Slye in his rearview mirror.
QB Bailey Zappe: After getting zero team or 7-on-7 reps, he took the high road post-practice. I asked him if he felt he'd been given a fair shake to compete for the job. "I believe in the coaches and everything, and I feel like if the opportunity presents itself, I'll take advantage of it.
"Obviously, I want to be here, I want to play here. I want to do everything I can to help this organization win. But it is hard, but I'm trying to be the best teammate I can because you know that's what's best for the team."
THREE DOWN
Secondary communication: Too many receivers running free, especially near the goal line. They miss Peppers being out there, but this is a veteran crew for the most part. Figure it out.
Run Game: Not much push from any of the units they put together today. They'll have to get much better between now and week one if they're to be a running team.
Atonio Mafi: Another lousy snap. I have to wonder how he makes the roster with Nick Leverett clearly outplaying him and appearing to be the first guy off the bench (if you will) for all three interior positions.
QUICK HITS
- There was more kick-return work today. Because of Marcus Jones' injury, pairings changed. The top group was Jalen Reagor and Gibson. The second was Osborn and Douglas. The third was Polk and Harris.
- Thornton had an awesome rep in 1-on-1s. But was silent in teamwork.
- Peppers spent some time after one red zone session working with corner Mikey Victor. Glad they rewarded Peppers. He cares.
- Vederian Lowe was once again the starting left tackle today. He was alongside Sidy Sow, David Andrews, Mike Onwenu, and Chuks Okorafor. The second-line group featured (from left to right) Caedan Wallace, Michael Jordan, Nick Leverett, Layden Robinson, and Anderson. When Anderson left practice for a bit, Okorafor came in for him, doubling up.
- The team announced the signing of OL Kellen Diesch and safety A.J. Thomas. They also released RB Deshaun Fenwick and OT Tyrone Wheatley Jr. The Pats traded Pierre Strong for Wheatley last year, which is a win for the Browns.
- Ryland was 5-of-5 and now 17-of-18 in camp. Slye missed his first attempt and then rebounded to hit his final four.He's 14-of-18.
- Matt Ryan, Scott Pioli, and James White were all guests at Pats practice today. Ryan was seen talking with former Falcon teammate Hooper post-practice. Those two hooked up for a TD in that dramatic Super Bowl loss to the Pats.
SCHEDULE
Saturday: 11 a.m. (full pads)
Sunday: OFF
