Whether Vrabel was issuing a challenge or not, the guys wearing the blue jerseys seemed to get the message. Things did not go well for Drake Maye and the offense, whether it was 7-on-7 or full 11-on-11 work. Maye's timing never materialized, and he seemed to lose his accuracy on a couple of occasions. He was nearly picked at least twice but Christian Elliss (7-on-7) and Craig Woodson (11-on-11) couldn't hold onto the errant throws.
"It's never as good or as bad as you think," cornerback Alex Austin said after practice. "We'll have to go back and look at the tape and see how it went."
In three full team periods, the last of which was a late-game situation starting at the 40, the offense didn't manage many completions let alone touchdowns. Marcus Jones was able to knock away a throw to the inside of a streaking Mack Hollins to prevent one touchdown, and Carlton Davis had tight coverage on Kayshon Boutte on another attempt. On the positive side, Davis took part in plenty of team reps as he appears poised for a full-time return. Vrabel said before practice that the veteran corner is expected to be with the team in Minnesota.
Boutte did end that period with a touchdown off a quick out, but even that was highly contested as the wideout was forced to quickly turn and reach the ball out just past the goal line as he hit the ground.
The hurry-up attempt was controlled by the defense. With 1:05 on the clock, the first play would have ended in a K'Lavon Chaisson (who returned after missing several practices with an undisclosed injury) sack as he ran untouched off the left side as Will Campbell blocked down to pick up a blitzer. A bobbled snap ensued on second down, and with 43 seconds left Chaisson again applied immediate pressure. It was tough to tell whether or not Maye avoided the sack by stepping up, but Boutte made a terrific catch while adjusting his body in midair to haul in the pass. Maye then scrambled out of bounds with 22 ticks left before sprinting out to connect with DeMario Douglas for a first down.
With the clock down to 10 seconds, Maye tried to hit Hollins twice only to overthrow his fade and then watch his jump ball attempt batted down by Jones and Miles Battle, who blanketed the wideout. On the final play with one second left, the offense probably had one of its best plays of the day, but Stefon Diggs dropped a touchdown off a quick hook in the end zone. Diggs did beat D.J. James along the back line of the end zone for a touchdown in an earlier period.
Joshua Dobbs and the second group enjoyed much more success, especially when Efton Chism was involved. The rookie started to emerge in practice leading into the Commanders game, then caught six passes for 50 yards and a touchdown in the opener. Sunday saw him continue to build momentum, first with a terrific route to convert a third down when he beat Austin quickly on a short out. Later he high-pointed a ball over Jones in the end zone for a touchdown. Dobbs also hit Hollins for a pair of touchdowns and tight end Cole Fotheringham for another.
Austin then got his revenge on Chism by tightly covering the rookie before knocking away Dobbs' fourth-down attempt in the end zone.