FOXBOROUGH — Practice No 7 is in the books; let's run down all you need to know, including stats, 1-on-1s, play-by-play, lineup adjustments and observations:
FOUR THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Gabe Jacas cleared to practice: The second-round pick was on the field in a limited capacity. He didn't take part in any drills, but he worked on the side with Mike Vrabel on punt protection and OLBs coach Mike Smith on pass rush. At one point, Jacas bowled over Smith while he held a blocking pad. Jacas looks, well, jacked. He is one impressive-looking dude. Someone hasn't been eating bonbons waiting to be signed.
Gabe Jacas is off to a hot start pic.twitter.com/wHCwQDlMJF
— Matt Dolloff (@RealMattDolloff) August 1, 2026
"He’ll be out there in a limited role," Vrabel said. "We’ve talked to you about the return to play protocol that we have, and so now he gets handed over to the coaches, and that’ll be in a limited role. He won’t be involved in the team reps, but hopefully Monday, we’ll see him back out there.
"He loves football. He’s been itching to get back. He texts me all the time. He texts me late at night, "Hey, am I going to practice tomorrow?" I’m like, "No, just like I told you at 6:30 last night or tonight that you’re not going to practice tomorrow. You don’t have to text me at 10:00 and ask again. The answer is still no, not yet." You want that. You want guys that are looking for ways in as opposed to looking for ways out. I think he just wants to get out there, get acclimated and be with his teammates. That is all he wants to do. He just wants to play football."
Both sides of the ball go without a script: Vrabel said before practice that this would be a "call it" practice for both sides of the ball.
"There is no script, so the players won’t have what the play is or what the situation is, which we always like to do here, and give them an opportunity to go play, get into a little bit of rhythm, get into a little bit of conditioning, create a drive," Vrabel said. "If it’s a three-and-out, I’ll just make it first down. Just bear with me. Players will probably start to [say], "Oh, that was a sack," and, "Now why is it not third-and-15? Why is it third-and-7?" So, we just do all those things, and I think they understand that that’s really good for the football team. So, I’m excited to do that today."
It was good, productive work for both sides of the ball. Wouldn't say either side had the edge.
Injuries, rest part of the story: The Patriots saw some players go off with injuries - Caeden Wallace, Kyle Williams (returned), Romeo Doubs (stayed on the field) and OL James Hudson. Some of the veterans checked out before the end of practice for rest, including AJ Brown, Marcus Jones and Christian Gonzalez.
Starting line, including Will Campbell, suffer first 1-on-1 losses: It was a fast start to pass rush drills for the starting offensive line (save Morgan Moses, who has yet to take a rep), but that came back to reality a bit as Will Campbell, Mike Onwenu and Jared Wilson suffered their first losses, but still battled well. Ben Brown took Vera-Tucker's reps at left guard. It was a good day for the defense, which posted its first win 19-11-6 with 2 decisive wins.
TAKING ATTENDANCE
Physically unable to perform list: DE Harold Landry, TE CJ Dippre
Non-football injury list: RB Terrell Jennings, S Brendan Schooler
Red non-contact jerseys: QBs.
Returned to practice: DT Christian Barmore (rest), DE Gabe Jacas.
Full participants: None.
Out: CB Carlton Davis (hamstring), G Alijah Vera-Tucker.
Limited: OT Morgan Moses, WR AJ Brown, CB Christian Gonzalez, CB Marcus Jones, RB Rhamondre Stevenson.
New injuries: WR Kyle Williams (returned to practice), WR Romeo Doubs (unknown), OL James Hudson (right leg), OL Caeden Wallace (unknown).
DRESS CODE
Full pads (3rd day).
LENGTH OF PRACTICE
1:50 under tough sun and humidity.
QB STATS
Drake Maye: 9 of 11, sack (4 of 5, 5 of 6, sack).
Tommy DeVito: 6 of 9 (4 of 4, sack; 2 of 5, INT)
Behren Morton: 1 of 3, 2 sacks, scramble
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 IN TEAM PERIODS
Fumbles: Lan Larison, Romeo Doubs.
Drops: None.
Pass breakups: Dell Pettus, Kobee Minor
Interceptions: Karon Prunty (DeVito)
Run stuffs (10): Dre'Mont Jones (Henderson), Elijah Ponder (Henderson), Kobee Minor (Larison), Muma (Henderson), Farmer (Jam Miller, JonDarius Morgan), Jacobs (Myles Montgomery), Channing Canada (Miller), Pharms (Miller), Farmer (Montgomery), Wilson.
Pressures/sacks (6): Leonard Taylor, Khalil Jacobs, Ponder, Jones, Gainer, Taylor (Morgan)
PASS RUSH ONE-ON-ONES
Offense
Defense
Decisive bouts:
- Joshua Farmer quickly got around C Andrew Rupcich.
- Quintayvious Hutchins faked inside, and then blew past Lomu with speed on the outside.
7-ON-7S FROM GIARDI
(Drake Maye reps followed by Tommy Devito’ followed by Behren Morton)
- Deep in-cut to Romeo Doubs.
- A.J. Brown in the left flat (Christian Gonzalez in coverage).
- Sidearm checkdown to Lan Larison.
- Christian Elliss with a PBU while covering Pop Douglas on a deep over route. A better throw would have led to a catch, but Maye threw it a little behind Douglas.
- Doubs finds the hole created by Mack Hollins clearing out the seam and settles in for a nice gain.
Devito:
- Hole shot to Kyle Williams along the right sideline. Safety John Saunders Jr. was late to close the gap. If it were allowed, he might have sent Williams to the moon by dropping his shoulder.
- Efton Chism sneaks past Marcellas Dial on a corner route.
- Williams wins on a comeback against Kobee Minor.
Morton:
- Kyle Dixon beats Karon Prunty on a comeback.
- A checkdown to TE Mitch Van Vooren, who made a hell of a catch as Morton threw the ball about 110 miles per hour from a short distance away.
- Nick DeGennaro with a sharp comeback route to beat Saunders.
MAYE PLAY BY PLAY IN TEAM
1-10: Henderson left tackle stuffed by Dre'Mont Jones
2-10: Maye completed short slant to AJ Brown against Charles Woods
3-5: Henderson middle stuffed by Elijah Ponder
1-10: Maye completed cross to Romeo Doubs (might have been blown dead for encroachment)
1-5: Maye incomplete deep to Kyle Williams, Dell Pettus in tight coverage
2-5: Lan Larison middle 3, Eli Raridon failed block on Christian Elliss
3-1: Maye complete in right flat to Tanner Arkin on boot
1-10: Henderson big run over left tackle - Chad Muma and KJ Britt at LB
1-10: Maye complete to Brown back shoulder against Gonzalez. Brown just too big and uses his body.
1-10: Ponder sack ... Maye was picked of by Pettus but play was blown dead
2-4: Maye complete to Douglas in the middle of the field for about 20 yards
3-5: Maye incomplete to Boutte out of bounds against pressure
1-10: Chism deceptive play
2-5: Maye complete screen to Larison, who fumbles
3-5: Maye complete to Doubs, Jones pressure
1-10: Maye complete Boutte back shoulder on left sideline
2-5: Henderson middle, stuffed by Muma
3-4: Maye complete to Doubs, who fumbles
TOP PLAY
Tommy DeVito went deep to Demario Douglas, who lost the DB with the ball in the air, and then made two guys whiff badly as he was running.
FOUR UP
DT Christian Barmore: Came back strong after a day off, going 2-0 in 1-on-1s. He's developed a heck of a hump move.
WR Romeo Doubs: Had his best day of camp with three receptions over the middle from Maye in team.
DE Quintayvious Hutchins: The seventh-round pick was 2-0 and made Caleb Lomu look bad on one rep.
CB Kobee Minor: Had a pass breakup and was sticking his nose in the run game.
THREE DOWN
G JonDarius Morgan: Got boosted up a few spots with AVT out and some injuries, went 1-3-1 in 1-on-1s, and had some terrible plays in team.
G Caeden Wallace: A day after being demoted, he wasn't very competitive, 0-2, in 1-on-1s and left with an injury.
OL James Hudson: The veteran free agent has been hit and miss, and today he struggled, going 0-2. In team, he got kicked inside from tackle to guard (I was wondering if his smaller frame would fit better there), and he didn't run with the opportunity.
QUICK HITS
• The third teams again tackled to the ground during the final period.
• Borregales was 5 for 5, with a long from 55. He's having a good camp.
• Allowing 10 run stuffs is too much, and Henderson was on the receiving end of three of them, including his first two touches of team.
• UDFAs continuing to get time, showing up on special teams, and making plays in practice: LB Khalil Jacobs, TE Tanner Arkin.
SCHEDULE
Sunday: OFF
Monday: 10:15-12:15
Tuesday: 10:15-12:15
Wednesday: Closed to public
Thursday: Closed to public
Friday: 10:15-12:15
Saturday: OFF
Sunday: OFF