FOXBOROUGH - Before I get to the Drake Maye portion of the program, I had eyeballs on practice Thursday, and not only did the Patriots have perfect attendance, but Christian Gonzalez stepped up his participation level from the day prior.
Once again, the media was allowed to view periods 4 through 7. Although there was a lot of standing around during the early periods, Gonzalez pushed his hamstring by first participating in the same shadow tackle drill that he had not done on Wednesday. He followed that up by taking part in a half-field chase-down drill with what I consider the other starters on defense. So, you're telling me there's a chance?
Perhaps, although the team listed him as limited participant for a second straight day.
I spoke with a few teammates of Gonzalez, and while they're all excited for his eventual return, no one would confirm on or off the record if that could happen on Sunday against the Steelers. Although perhaps Carlton Davis gave us a hint.
"I can't wait," he said when asked about Gonzalez being back practicing and perhaps being able to play. "I'm excited. Been waiting all season for it, so it's finally here, and, yeah, it's gonna be fun. (He) can make a lot of plays for our defense and help us out a lot in the back end."
If Gonzalez is active this weekend, it makes sense to put him on a snap count. He missed all of the summer because of the injury, and while he's no doubt in good condition, he might not be in run-with-D.K. Metcalf-on-every-snap kind of shape. Vrabel will give us an update on his playing status on Friday.
MOVING ON UP
Before practice, Josh McDaniels spent time with us, as he does every week. The Patriots' offensive coordinator has been around long enough to know not to ride the roller coaster of emotions from one week to the next, but is also aware of what's being said. He was adamant last week that they weren't putting too much on Maye's plate, and after the young quarterback's best game as a pro, he made sure to remind us you can't fast-forward his growth. That said, McDaniels has been impressed by the 23-year-old's approach and demeanor as the two continue to get to know each other.
"He's as easy to talk to as anybody we have. He sees the game very, very well," he said. "The conversations you have are accurate. If you ask him a question, you're going to get the right answer. It's not maybe the best answer to what we could've done, but he knows exactly what took place on the field. He's very honest. Very informative. Always wants to do it the right way. Takes coaching extremely well."
Per McDaniels, there is a laundry list of improvements Maye will need to make as he advances in his career. But the player is aware of that. In fact, Maye was asked a question about Aaron Rodgers and discussed how much he admired the veteran's play-fakes and cadence: "I'm not going to get there this early in my career, but try to work toward it." That acknowledgment is going to be critical in his development.
"Love his approach from day to day. His process is never-ending and always evolving in terms of his improvement," McDaniels said. "He got better from Week 1 to Week 2, and I hope he gets better from Week 2 to Week 3 and continues to do that every single day. With the way he goes about it, I think we have a realistic shot at doing that. And the list is long. He knows that and he loves that. I really enjoy working with him."
The Patriots were largely able to stay out of unmanageable situations in their Week 2 victory, and struck a perfect balance between run and pass, breaking the 30-point mark for the first time in 47 games. McDaniels was asked if, schematically, that was closer to the identity he wants for this team.
"I don't know if we got closer," he responded. "We probably played cleaner. ... I don't think we're going to be able to do the same thing every week. That's hard to do. The players on the other team and the scheme sometimes dictate what you can and can't do.
"But I thought they executed what we thought was best to execute against Miami last week at a better rate than what we did the first week. I thought those things, like you said, helped us. You know, there's a shelf life for everything. But as long as you stay in positive down and distance situations, then you can do that."
No guarantee that this can happen on a week-to-week basis, but so long as the quarterback continues to grow, and his teammates come along with him, the 34-point outing in Miami shouldn't be the last time the offense cracks that once-daunting barrier.