FOXBOROUGH - Practice No. 2 of 2025 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
Absences continue to grow: WR Ja'Lynn Polk continued to be out and he was joined by CB Carlton Davis, a few days after he ended up on the NFI list. Davis did take part on Wednesday, but not today. Also, Christian Barmore was limited as he worked off to the side during team drills. Not great news for all three players, who have had availability issues.
Emphasis on short passing, quick decisions: There weren't many dropback passing rep opportunities in this practice, as it appeared the emphasis was on quick game, screens and making quick decisions against the blitz. All that led to a very high percentage passing for everyone, and not many pass protection issues until the third and final team period. And this wasn't one of those blitz periods where the offense didn't know what was coming and was left shorthanded in pass protection. This felt very scripted and designed to get Drake Maye to exercise his beating-the-blitz muscles. As pointed out in the FTN Almanac, "Maye can easily cut down on the sacks taken by checking down the ball more often; he was 34th in checkdown rate." This seemed to be a building day to get Maye to the point where the defense is throwing a lot of new looks at him.
Jared Wilson continues to be in the mix: The Patriots' third-round pick continues to get some first-team reps at both center and left guard as it appears he's competing at both spots as the team assesses what's best for him and the team.
TAKING ATTENDANCE
Physically unable to perform list: WR Mack Hollins, TE Austin Hooper,
Non-football injury list: DB Josh Minkins.
Red non-contact jerseys: None.
Returned to practice: None.
Out: WR Ja'Lynn Polk, CB Carlton Davis.
Limited: OT Vederian Lowe, DT Christian Barmore.
New injuries: None.
DRESS CODE
Shirts and shorts.
LENGTH OF PRACTICE
1:30 minutes under sunny skies.
QB STATS
Team periods
Drake Maye: 13 of 13, 2 sacks, scramble, fumbled center exchange with Wilson.
Josh Dobbs: 9 of 11, sack, drop by Kyle Williams.
As opposed to Wednesday, Maye's sack and scramble came as a result of him not finding anyone and holding the ball. Coverage sacks.
TOP PLAYS
On a play where Demontrey Jacobs had a false start, Dobbs threw a high pass that Demario Douglas snagged.
Dobbs also fit the ball in a tight window to Jaheim Bell that snuck past Jack Gibbens.
Ben Wooldrige hit Demeer Blakumsee down the right sideline in one of the few deep shots during this practice.
TWO UP
This was a very tough practice to come up with much here.
DE Harold Landry: Continues to show up with early pressure.
DT Jeremiah Pharms: With Barmore down for the day, he got increased reps.
TWO DOWN
WR Kyle Williams: Had a drop of a Dobbs pass.
WR Jeremiah Webb: Had a drop of a Wooldrige pass.
Like I said, not much. It was a glorified jog through and pretty boring.
ODDS AND ENDS
- Jahlani Tavai was helping out new LB Marte Mapu with taking on blockers. Mapu had a sack of Dobbs when he went through Sidy Sow.
- Jeremiah Pharms tipped a pass from Maye on a play where there would have been a sack by Harold Landry.
- The kickers went at it with a wicked crosswind. I had Andy Borregales as going 2 for 4, missing from 42 and 45. Parker Romo was 3 of 4, missing from 45. Both kickers hit from 34 and 38.
- Hall of Fame GM Ron Wolf was in attendance.
- There appeared to be an option route with Stefon Diggs against LB Christian Elliss, and both the WR and Maye had no issues executing it.
- Efton Chism showed up, catching a deep in-cut from Dobbs.
- Draft picks Will Campbell, TreVeyon Henderson, Kyle Williams and Jared Wilson were all on the field at one point with Maye.