EAGAN, Minn. – On Day 2 of joint practices, the Patriots discovered why the Minnesota Vikings finished 14-3 last season.
On Thursday, the Patriots were beat on both sides of the ball during this red-zone heavy session. On offense, there were struggles when it came to receivers separating and pass protection. On defense, Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy had his way, throwing multiple touchdowns.
For Drake Maye’s unit, the saving grace came on the final play of practice in the 2-minute drill.
The start of this period had all the makings of horror for the Patriots as Maye was sacked twice on the first three snaps. After a pass completion to Mack Hollins, Will Campbell was flagged for a false start. That set the Patriots up with one last play – a Hail Mary on fourth down.
That’s when Maye threw the deep pass over 40 yards in the air, and Kayshon Boutte jumped up and over two Vikings defenders to haul in an incredible touchdown. Boutte jumped over Vikings safety Joshua Metellus and cornerback Isaiah Rodgers to allow the Patriots to finish on a strong note.
“Exciting,” Patriots receiver DeMario Douglas said. “Just to know — we play till the last tick of the clock, shout out to Boutte and Drake connecting on that play.”
“That was dope – especially to finish on that,” added Patriots right guard Michael Onwenu. “That was very dope – a jump ball like that over two people. That’s a head tap for sure.”
For the Patriots offense, it was an up-and-down day at the Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center. Maye completed 10-of-14 passes and was sacked five times by a tenacious Vikings defense.
Although he had a solid completion percentage in full-team drills, most of his passes were on shorter throws. Before the Hail Mary, Maye completed three touchdowns – two to Hunter Henry and one to Hooper. However, he was also sacked on the two throws to Henry.
Here are the main takeaways from the final joint practice of the summer for the Patriots:
Receivers disappearing act
The Patriots’ receivers had no problem separating during 1-on-1 or 7-on-7 drills.
In 7-on-7s, Maye completed 7-of-8 passes with four touchdown throws to Stefon Diggs, Douglas, TreVeyon Henderson, and Boutte.
His 15-yard touchdown to Diggs in the back of the end zone was a thing of beauty. The veteran receiver spun the ball on the ground to celebrate. Maye then went on to hit Douglas and Henderson for 5-yard touchdowns before finishing the drill with a 3-yard touchdown to Boutte.
At that point, the Patriots were rolling. After that, they cooled. Through the first two 11-on-11 periods, Maye was 3-of-3 with dump-offs to Antonio Gibson and Douglas.
In the third and fourth periods, the Vikings brought the heat. Maye was pressured at least three times and sacked twice in six pass plays. He hit Henry for touchdowns, but was sacked before the throw.
Henderson also had a nice 7-yard touchdown run, showing off his electric speed. Maye followed that up with a touchdown run out of his own. Outside of those two runs and the touchdowns to Hooper and Henry, Patriots receivers didn’t do much.
Douglas had a chance for a big gain, but turned his head before hauling in the pass, and the ball bounced off his hands.
“More concentration. I was ready to get out on that one in the middle of the field. I just got to catch before I run,” Douglas said. “I catch and I try to go. I had already turned my head and left the ball behind.”
In the final two periods, before the 2-minute drill, Maye was 1-of-3 with a small pass to Henderson. He was pressured twice and sacked again.
Douglas, Gibson, and Henry led the top unit with two catches each. After hauling in three passes on Tuesday, Diggs finished with zero catches in full-team drills.
The veteran receiver has been quieter since being limited in the Patriots joint practice with Washington. Diggs has zero catches in full-team drills in four of the last five practices. He had three receptions on Tuesday.
Although the receivers didn’t finish strong, Douglas said he wasn’t worried.
“Their zone is difficult to read,” Douglas said. “I salute Drake sitting in that pocket and reading them out. That’s not an easy defense to read. I salute to Drake. And the o-line, it’s not easy, and them boys did what they had to do.”
Will Campbell’s tough day
It’s not easy being a rookie left tackle in the NFL.
That was evident for Will Campbell this week as he battled with Pro Bowl edge rusher Jonathan Greenard. The Patriots’ first-round pick had an up-and-down day on Wednesday, giving up two sacks.
“Had some good plays and had some plays where he got beat inside,” Mike Vrabel said of Campbell. “These are going to happen to young offensive linemen.”
On Thursday, Campbell had one of his rougher days in recent memory.
The rookie started practice with Greenard blowing through him with an impressive inside spin move in 1-on-1s. Campbell recovered to win the next rep against the Pro Bowler. In 11-on-11s, it was a different story.
In back-to-back plays, Campbell gave up a pressure, which forced Maye to escape the pocket, and then gave up a sack to Greenard. Later in practice, Greenard beat Campbell for another sack on Maye. Then, in the 2-minute drill, the first-round pick was called for a false start, backing the Patriots up.
It was a tough stretch for Campbell, who has impressed his teammates this offseason with his ability to learn from his mistakes and bounce back.
“Will is a good player,” Onwenu said. “It’s not really about what the guy’s going to do, it’s about your personal technique. It’s not really about the guy on the other side of the ball. From yesterday, watching the film, seeing what he got beat on, seeing what I got beat on as well, and just fixing it on Day 2 and keeping those same habits going forward.”
Campbell wasn’t the only one to falter on Wednesday. Onwenu was beaten by Jonathan Allen for a sack in 11-on-11s. In the 2-minute drill, Morgan Moses was beaten by Dallas Turner as well.
“Yesterday we didn’t do as well,” Onwenu said. “They had given us a lot more than we – not that we expected, but gave us a lot of looks that we weren’t on the same page, so we didn’t communicate as well. Today, I think we did a little bit better, but there are still some plays that we have to fix.”
Patriots defense struggled
On Wednesday, the Patriots defense got the better of the Vikings and their starting quarterback. On Thursday, McCarthy gave the Patriots fits.
The young quarterback reportedly went 14-of-16 with five touchdowns against the Patriots starting defense in 11-on-11s. In the 2-minute drill, McCarthy ended his day with another touchdown.
It wasn’t the most efficient drive for the Patriots. McCarthy started 1/3 before scrambling for a moderate gain. The Patriots then helped the Vikings with a defensive penalty. On the next snap, McCarthy connected with Jordan Addison, who beat Marcus Jones, for the touchdown.
After practice, Patriots players explained why it was a good week for them.
“Really had a lot of fun competing with another team,” said Christian Barmore. “They have some good players, we have some good players. Really, it’s about competing, testing our engine every day. You have to love it.”
“I feel like it was really good work,” added Harold Landry. “There’s a reason why Vrabes wanted us to come up here and go against them. It was great competition. I feel like it’s been a good work day these last two days, and there’s a lot of stuff on tape that we learn from, and it’s going to do nothing but help us moving forward.”
After practice, Vrabel gave the team a message.
“His message was just basically, we gotta find it,” Jaylinn Hawkins said. “We haven’t arrived. We’ve gotta lot to work towards, and we got to keep going and going towards that goal.”
Patriots o-line shuffle
The Patriots debuted a brand new starting offensive line on Thursday as Ben Brown started at left guard in place of rookie Jared Wilson.
Wilson struggled on Wednesday, giving up two sacks, but the move didn’t appear to be related to his play as the third-round pick didn’t participate in Thursday’s practice. Wilson was present in pads but never practiced against the Vikings and left the field early.
That left Brown as the top left guard. He’s the fourth player to play with the starting offensive line at the left guard position this summer. Cole Strange and Caedan Wallace also received reps earlier in camp, but they were surpassed by Wilson.
Brown lost both of his 1-on-1 reps to Javon Hargrave but didn’t appear to have allowed a sack in full-team drills.
“Ben has been good. Ever since last year, he’s been a good player,” Onwenu said. “Plug and play pretty much. He’s been good at center. I think guard is pretty new to him, but he’s still getting those reps and working through it.”
Patriots backup offense succeeded
The Patriots backup offense had more success against the starters. Joshua Dobbs finished 11-of-18 and had five touchdown throws on the day.
Dobbs’ top receiver was Efton Chism III. The undrafted receiver caught two passes in 7-on-7 drills. Then in 11-on-11s, Chism caught a 20-yard touchdown from Dobbs. He finished with a team-high three receptions, including two touchdowns.
Dobbs also hit Kyle Williams and Javon Baker for touchdowns during the red zone drills. Then, in the 2-minute drill, Dobbs finished his day with a touchdown pass to tight end Jack Westover.
Attendance
Jabrill Peppers didn’t participate in team drills on Thursday. The veteran starting safety worked off to the side with Patriots trainers for most of practice.
With Peppers out, the Patriots started Craig Wilson and Jaylinn Hawkins at safety.
The Patriots had Hunter Henry and Elijah Ponder return to practice. Both missed Wednesday’s session.
The team was without Christian Gonzalez, Rhamondre Stevenson, Ja’Lynn Polk, Marte Mapu, Jahlani Tavai, Kendrick Bourne, and Terrell Jennings. D.J. James was also a limited participant, not a participant in team drills.
Happy birthday, coach
Thursday was Vrabel’s 50th birthday. The Patriots coach said there’s only one cake he’ll eat on his birthday.
“There’s one answer, it’s carrot cake,” Vrabel said. “There’s one answer. There’s no hemming and hawing.”
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