FOXBOROUGH — Some thoughts and observations from the hill for the first of two practices during mandatory minicamp...
• Another good day for the Patriots' offense, especially Drake Maye and the "starters" (those who are taking part in team) against the starting defense, which did include CB Carlton Davis today. The stats, for those that care:
Maye overall: 13 of 17, 3 TD, sack, scramble
Regular team: 7-8 — 4 of 4, sack; 3 of 4, scramble
Red zone team: 6 of 9, 3 TDs
Maye's touchdowns were to TreVeyon Henderson, Kendrick Bourne and Pop Douglas
Dobbs overall: 10 of 14, 2 TD, INT, 2 drops
Regular team: 6 of 7, TD
Red zone team: 4 of 7, TD, INT, 2 drops
Dobbs' TD was a bomb down the middle to Kyle Williams and a nice wheel to RB Lan Larison. He was picked off by Isaiah Bolden, who was chased by Drake Maye, among others.
• The comfort for everyone in the offense, especially Maye, appears to be growing rapidly. Again he was very relaxed and decisive. I've been impressed how well they get lined up, you don't see a ton of mental errors especially when it comes to where people are supposed to be. That has not been the case in more than a few years.
• I liked seeing Kendrick Bourne apply lessons from the individual period into the team portion, and that's by design. The receivers worked on a stop route for a while and then Bourne later scored on that when he was wide open, shaking loose from Davis. This is what they were working on previously:
• Absent or street clothes: Mack Hollins, Jahlani Tavai, Wes Schweitzer, Myles Battle, Tyrese Robinson.
Limited: Stefon Diggs, Ja’Lynn Polk, Austin Hooper, Michael Onwenu, Kyle Dugger, Vederian Lowe, Jared Wilson, Jaquelin Roy.
• Not having Schweitzer and Robinson really thinned the ranks at the two guards sports, especially when Onwenu went to the side for team. Cole Strange got a lot of run at left guard, while Caeden Wallace joined him. It's the first time I've seen Wallace play guard. Layden Robinson appears to have plummeted down the depth chart, and he jump offsides when the team was doing sprints to Maye's cadence to finish practice.
• Didn't watch him the entire time, but I did see Will Campbell show nice technique more than a few times against Keion White, who can't go all out in these drills. White did have a sack on the first play from scrimmage on a stunt where someone on the interior (Garrett Bradbury and/or Strange) messed up.
• Jaylinn Hawkins and Jabrill Peppers continue to get a lot of time at safety with Craig Woodson getting in some packages. Still not much from Dugger.
• At linebacker, Christian Elliss continues to log a lot of time.
• WR Efton Chism was limited to just two catches today. That's a slow day for him. Bourne, Douglas, Henry and Boutte were the volume guys among the starters.
• Both kickers went 4 for 4 today.
• Some plays that stood out:
Maye attempted a jump throw to his right, thought better and came back to Hunter Henry.
Dobbs hit Kyle Williams on a nice backshoulder throw.
Dell Pettus had a pass breakup against TE Gee Scott
There was a big TE screen to Henry.
Chaisson pressure led to Maye's scramble
Maye had poor footwork on a pass into the left flat to Henderson. Threw it flat-footed and he turfed it.
WR Demer Blankumsee showed some nice juice before and after the catch on a deep comeback from Dobbs.
Henderson and Williams beat Elliss on their touchdowns from Maye and Dobbs respectively (that was a deep carry down the field on Williams).
Bourne nearly had another TD from Maye but he didn't come down in bounds on the back line
Dippre and Scott had drops of Dobbs.
Maye would have had another reception but Marcus Jones held Douglas coming out of his break.
Douglas tried to dunk the ball over the goal post after his TD but he was stuffed.
• Diggs continued to look good in his drills. Ja'Lynn Polk showed a little bit more today as well.
• Some interesting quotes from Mike Vrabel before practice:
On today's practice: "I think that's where things have kind of changed. This is just an extension of the last nine or 10 days that we've had on the field. It's going to look the same. The only difference is that the time constraint isn't the same. We're not under the same time, so we're going to continue on with our installation, start to try to put first, second, and third down together, move down into the red zone. So, all those things that you talked about as far as competing, that's never going to change when we come out here to practice. We just have to understand that there's parameters to how we compete and staying away from the quarterback, staying off the ground and not going through receivers without pads on. So really, for us, nothing's going to change from the first three weeks."
Q: How has Stefon Diggs done since coming to New England last week?
MV: Good. He's trying to figure out where everything is and what his role is and making sure that as we add those situations – the third down, the no-huddle and red zone – that he's staying up on it, working hard in his rehab. Certain drills he can be out there and there's certain drills that he won't be, but I think he's engaged and I like his energy.
Q: It’s very early, but looking at that defensive front, kind of following up on that a little bit, how is that group coming together with Milton [Williams], Christian [Barmore], and Keion [White] altogether?
MV: Well, there's a lot of other names out there as well, so I wouldn't just single those three out. I think that's got to be a strength for us this year, that front seven. We certainly invested in that position, and I like how they're competing. I like how they're working. This is a tough time. It's just like, ‘Hey, rush the passer, be a physical presence as a D-Lineman, but to a certain extent in the spring, and then pull back and get out of the way, no bull rushing’ and all these things that we give them, but I'm excited about where they're at. They're learning a lot of installation. I think they're working well together. I think they're communicating, which is important. I think they're working hard and they're getting in shape.
Q: As you've gone through the spring, how have you gotten to know DeMario Douglas, and what have you learned about him and his play style?
MV: Well, I love the person. I love his attitude. I love his spirit. He loves to practice. He loves to play this game. He loves football. That shows. I think he's gotten better. We’re moving him around different places, and he’s picked up everything that we've asked him to do. The more than he understands, the more we give him. I'm excited to see where he continues to be and continues to grow.
Q: Mike, canceling the practice on Wednesday. Is that something you've done in the past, and what's the thinking behind that?
MV: I just felt like hopefully we can get two good days of work here and get going on to the offseason program. We'll still work; I just didn't want to come out. We'll be out on the field. We'll be lifting, running and meeting.
Q: How's the attendance? Is everyone here?
MV: There'll be a couple players for personal reasons, but other than that, we don't have any holdouts, if that’s what you mean. There's a couple personal situations that are going to keep a couple guys from being out here.