FOXBOROUGH — Practice No 4 is in the books; let's run down all you need to know, including stats, 1-on-1s, 7-on-7s, lineup adjustments and observations:
FOUR THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Kayshon Boutte stars again as offense makes some progress: The shell pads went on today ahead of an off day, so things ramped up a little bit more. Kayshon Boutte had the play of the day for the third straight real practice, a deep touchdown down the right side of the field from Drake Maye over Kevin Byard. Boutte had another touchdown, but it was whistled dead mid-play by Mike Vrabel. Boutte caught four passes today.
A.J. Brown was more involved today with three catches, with a couple of slants and one really nice hitch where he stopped and lost the cornerback.
The stuffed runs allowed were at a minimum today with the ability to be more aggressive with the block.
Will Campbell shows improvement in 1-on-1s: To ramp up for pads, the Patriots did 1-on-1 pass rush drills today at more of a 2/3rds speed. Not going to tabulate official results — the offensive line was the overwhelming winner as the pass rushers held a little back — but there were some notable reps. Will Campbell won both his reps, one against Dre'Mont Jones and another against Bradyn Swinson. Really liked the Swinson rep as Campbell was aggressive, went out and got him, and showed a forceful punch to shut him down. A lot of Campbell's issues stemmed from him sitting back and "catching" pass rushers. That got him in a lot of trouble against the better pass rushers, who are too strong.
Some other notes from the 1-on-1s:
- Caleb Lomu took Morgan Moses' reps at RT (2-0), and then he later took two reps at LT (1-1).
- James Hudson was impressive at RT, showed some veteran savvy. He completely shut down Amari Gainer, who totally telegraphed his spin move.
- Marcus Bryant struggled. He held Elijah Ponder with basically a choke hold, then Quintayvious Hutchins easily slapped his hands down and went around for a sack.
- Eric Gregory overpowered Jacob Rizy.
- Alijah Vera-Tucker was a stud.
Corners Carlton Davis, Charles Woods leave practice: Davis appeared to tweak a hamstring. That's midseason form for him, so it's tough to know how serious it is. He bounced back all the time last year.
Woods appeared more serious as two staffers had to help him a lot off the field. Surprised a cart wasn't used. It could have been heat-related — it was really humid — but he was seen tossing his helmet.
Gabe Jacas mystery update: I asked another AFC team what they had on Jacas' medicals, which seem to have been the holdup on his contract.
At the combine medical checkup, Jacas was mostly healthy, but he did nothing besides the 40. He gave a hamstring as the reason. The same excuse was used at his pro day.
It was disclosed to teams on April 4 that he had a shoulder injury (labral tear) that would need to be addressed.
His left knee was never disclosed to teams.
"The knee thing looks like something that happened after the combine/pro day circuit," the executive said. "The knee thing was unknown until June."
It's unknown when it happened, but it's understandable the Patriots — who traded up for Jacas — were obviously pissed about the situation. The player giving a team a three-year injury waiver is virtually unprecedented.
TAKING ATTENDANCE
Physically unable to perform list: DE Harold Landry, TE CJ Dippre, DE Gabe Jacas.
Non-football injury list: RB Terrell Jennings, Brendan Schooler
Red non-contact jerseys: QBs.
Returned to practice: None.
Full participants: None.
Out: None
Limited: None.
New injuries: CB Carlton Davis (hamstring), CB Charles Woods (unknown).
DRESS CODE
Shells.
LENGTH OF PRACTICE
1:45
QB STATS
Drake Maye: 10 of 14.
Tommy DeVito: 8 of 11
Behren Morton: 2 of 3
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 literally 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 — I do not count those reps.
IMPACT PLAYS
Fumbles: None
Drops: TreVeyon Henderson.
Pass breakups: Chad Muma, Cory Durden.
Interceptions: None.
Run stuffs: None.
TOP PLAY
You could say Boutte's TD, but I was more impressed with Maye's throw and Hunter Henry's catch with no space and great coverage from Kevin Byard.
THREE UP
WR Kayshon Boutte: Four catches and a touchdown.
G Alijah Vera-Tucker: Very impressive in 1-on-1s.
OT James Hudson: Looked very comfortable in 1-on-1s.
THREE DOWN
OT Marcus Bryant: Had a tough time in 1-on-1s.
WR Kyle Williams: Definitely sliding down the depth chart. Had a catch from Behren Morton.
C Jacob Rizy: Struggled in 1-on-1s.
QUICK HITS
• Dre'Mont Jones is accumulating a count of tossed bodies. Today it was rookie TE Eli Raridon, who got tossed like a rag doll.
• Maye has shown a habit thus far of starting the practice with high throws. Today it was AJ Brown again.
• Maye and Brown weren't on the same page on the next rep. On a deep pass down the right side, Brown stayed on a go route. Maye's throw was to the inside, like the QB was expecting the WR to bend it in. Those are the types of plays in this offense where they're going to need to get on the same page. Work in progress.
• I liked the run game today. There were some openings. Don't tell anyone yet, but so far I like how Jam Miller reacts to blocks than TreVeyon Henderson.
• Will Campbell pancaked Milton Williams on a nice Stevenson run while TE Tanner Arkin helped to open up the hold. The UDFA also caught his first pass later from Tommy DeVito.
• DeVito took a sack, made a terrific throw to Boutte on the right sideline, but then had a terrible checkdown to Jam Miller into the dirt. He's been kind of all over the place.
7-on-7 (Giardi)
- Maye misses Brown on a deep over route, throwing high. Davis is in coverage (and beaten).
- Maye checks down to Efton Chism in the right flat.
- Douglas beats Marcus Jones and Kevin Byard cleanly but Maye overthrows the speedy slot.
- Intermediate in-cut to Boutte that the receiver goes low for and plucks it off his shoetops for a catch before tumbling to the ground.
- Douglas beats Jones on an over route/deep cross, has to wait a touch for the ball from Maye, but makes the catch.
- Robert Spillane with a PBU on a short throw to Rhamondre Stevenson.
- Brown wins cleanly on an out cut and receives the ball on time from Maye. I couldn’t see the defender.
Tommy DeVito reps:
- Short throw to Chism.
- Checkdown to Stevenson.
- Hits Eli Raridon on an over route. The rookie had beaten safety Dell Pettus.
Behren Morton reps:
- Short completion to Myles Montgomery.
- Cameron Dorner beats rookie Karon Prunty on an out cut. Good ball. Good catch.
SCHEDULE
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: 10:15-12:00 (pads) - with rain in the forecast, it could be moved inside and not open to the public.
Friday: 10:15-12:15
Saturday: 10:15-12:15
Sunday: OFF
Monday: 10:15-12:15