FOXBOROUGH – For Drake Maye, it hasn’t been the most efficient stretch of training camp.
On Sunday, the quarterback struggled in a red-zone heavy day, completing 5-of-13 passes. Twenty-four hours later, on the 14th day of training camp, Maye and his starting unit didn’t finish strong.
In the offense’s final 1-minute drill, Maye threw five-straight incomplete passes and was flagged by Mike Vrabel for a delay of game penalty. Coming off the Patriots preseason win over the Washington Commanders, the Patriots quarterback is struggling a little in this new Josh McDaniels offense.
However, speaking on Monday, McDaniels didn’t sound worried when asked about Maye’s development.
“I think we make progress every day. He’s done a lot of good things,” McDaniels said of Maye. “To me, the greatest part about training camp is you have the opportunity to see different things, experience things you’ve never experienced either with the group you’re out there with or within our own system against different defenses – our defense, Washington, Minnesota this week.
“All of those to me are super valuable to us in terms of his growth in our system and our offense’s growth together. I’m encouraged by what we’re doing every day. Really like the trajectory that we’re on.”
On Monday, the Patriots had an easier pace to practice, which saw Maye and the starters go up against the scout team defense. After two periods of non-competitive drills, the offense went up against the defensive starters for two final periods.
Maye started 2-of-2 with completions to Stefon Diggs and Kayshon Boutte. In the final period, he didn’t start badly, completing 3-of-4 passes to Austin Hooper, DeMario Douglas, and TreVeyon Henderson.
The pass to Henderson set up a second down. That’s where things fell apart. Maye’s next two passes were deflected by cornerback Marcus Jones, who got the jump on Douglas each time. On fourth down, cornerback Alex Austin was called for pass interference on a deep ball to Boutte to reset the downs.
The next snap, however, irritated Mike Vrabel as the play clock hit zero. On the next three plays, Maye missed Boutte, was sacked by K’Lavon Chaisson, and then failed to connect with Mack Hollins.
Maye finished 5-of-10 on the day. He’s 10-of-23 over the last two practices.
As McDaniels and Patriots quarterback Ashton Grant pointed out, Maye’s getting valuable experience this summer while learning a new scheme.
“I think he’s done a good job,” Grant told MassLive. “I think experience is the biggest teacher. Him being out here, being able to do it – I think that’s why it was big for him to play in the preseason game. Him and Josh get on the headset with each other one time during live action. I think that part was awesome, but I think he’s doing a good job picking everything up.”
Kickers went cold
The Patriots kicking competition was on fire – until Monday’s practice.
Entering Day 14, Parker Romo was 32-of-33 and Andy Borregales was 30-of-34 on attempts ranging from 30 to 50-plus yards. As Day 14 of camp unfolded, both kickers hit a cold streak.
Borregales went 2-of-4 in the field goal portion of practice. The rookie also missed an attempt that looked like it was over 60 yards at the end of practice. Romo, who had been more consistent, went 1-of-4 on the day and even missed an extra point.
This competition has been very competitive. Before practice, Patriots special teams coach Jeremy Springer said that Borregales’ draft status doesn’t give him an advantage over Romo.
“I just think at the end of the day, it’s the consistent person. It doesn’t matter if you’re drafted or undrafted or you were picked up in free agency,” McDaniels said. “Coach Vrabel’s message is very clear – you have to earn a role. If you earn a role through consistency and showing up every day, to me, that’s the guy who’s going to win the job. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who they are, and that’s how I approach it every day.
Coach both guys the same way. I hope they continue to progress and do what they’re told to do and show some consistency, and I’ll be happy at the end of the day with whoever we pick.”
Backups mixed in
Prior to practice, McDaniels noted that the Patriots were going to mix more players in with the starters on Monday.
On offense, that meant mixing in the backup offensive line and wide receivers with Maye.
The backup offensive line has shuffled throughout the summer, but the group had an interesting lineup on Monday with Vederian Lowe (left tackle), Caedan Wallace (left guard), Ben Brown (center), Cole Strange (right guard), and Marcus Bryant (right tackle).
After coming off the PUP list, Lowe has been the Patriots top backup left tackle. Bryant has also surpassed Demontrey Jacobs as the Patriots top backup right tackle.
At receiver, the Patriots top three have consistently been Diggs, Douglas, and Boutte. The top three backups on Monday were Hollins, Efton Chism III, and Javon Baker.
Baker, once again, had the catch of the day when he jumped over Jordan Polk and Kobee Minor to high point and snagged the ball out of the air.
Stefon Diggs as a mentor
Kyle Williams has learned that when Diggs talks, he should listen.
This offseason, the Patriots third-round pick has paid close attention to how the veteran receiver approaches the game. He also listens closely. Williams revealed that Diggs is often talking to his receiver group and giving them pieces of advice – or as the rookie calls it, “gems.”
“He’s been a great guy. Honestly, a great mentor. Dropping a lot of gems,” Williams said. “He’s been in the league for what? A decade? That’s pretty long, so all the gems and the knowledge that he’s dropped on us has been very useful. Just a great dude and a great teammate overall.”
This season marks Year 11 for the 4-time Pro Bowler. Last year, Diggs was a captain in his only season in Houston, and since arriving in New England, he’s gone out of his way to help the team’s younger receivers.
A fifth-round pick in 2015, Diggs developed into one of the top receivers in the NFL. From 2018 to 2023, he had six straight 1,000-yard seasons. That streak ended last fall when he suffered a torn ACL. Before the injury, Diggs was on pace to surpass the 1,000-yard mark once again.
Among the many ‘gems’ Diggs has given to Williams, the Patriots rookie receiver has a favorite.
“’Don’t confuse the results with the process,’” Williams said. “I think he tells me that every day, and our coach tells us that every day, so that one sticks with me a lot.”
TreVeyon continues to earn praise
Players and coaches are still talking about TreVeyon Henderson’s preseason debut.
The rookie running back impressed everyone when he took the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. Henderson also shined as a runner and receiver while playing two series with the starters.
On Monday, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said Henderson is the fastest running back he’s ever coached.
“I think everyone sees TreVeyon the same way,” McDaniels said. “He’s a tremendous kid. Awesome individual, really hard worker. Smart kid. Can process a lot of information, which allows you as a coach to use him in the ways he should be used. He’s explosive. I think we all saw that the other night. Tough. Physical. I don’t have many negatives to say about Tre.
“But excited to coach him. We’ve had some really good players with skillsets that are somewhat like his – maybe no one as fast. (Shane) Vereen was probably the fastest – him and Danny Woodhead were fast, but TreVeyon is fast, fast. Excited to be with him.”
Henderson has routinely looked like the fastest player on the practice field this summer in Foxborough. The second-round pick looked like a game-changer in his first preseason game with the Patriots.
Running back coach Tony Dews said it’s on the coaching staff to make the most out of the rookies’ abilities.
“It’s exciting. Obviously, he’s a very blessed individual,” Dews said. “When you get guys that can run like that, it’s unique. It’s our job to put him in a position to be successful and give him the best chance to be able to use that skill set.”
Running back shortage
The Patriots are running out of running backs.
On Monday, Rhamondre Stevenson missed his second practice in a row. The Patriots were also without backup Deneric Prince, whom they signed on Sunday. Then, midway through practice, backup Terrell Jennings left with an apparent injury. The day before, the Patriots also placed Lan Larison on the injured reserve.
That left the Patriots with Henderson, Antonio Gibson, and JaMycal Hasty. On one series, the Patriots used undrafted receiver Jeremiah Webb at running back.
Attendance
In total, the Patriots were missing 11 players on Monday.
Along with Stevenson and Prince, the team was without Christian Gonzalez, Hunter Henry, Ja’Lynn Polk, Kendrick Bourne, Marte Mapu, D.J. James, Jahlani Tavai, Elijah Ponder, and Joshua Farmer.
Henry and James both left Sunday’s practice early with apparent injuries.
… The Patriots are off tomorrow as they travel to Minnesota. The team will have two days of joint practices with the Vikings on Wednesday and Thursday.
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