The Patriots wrapped up their second and final joint practice against the Minnesota Vikings.
Here’s a look at attendance, Mike Vrabel’s most notable soundbites from his pre-practice press conference, and my thoughts on today’s Red Zone-heavy session.
Attendance
Absent/Did Not Participate: WR Kendrick Bourne, CB Christian Gonzalez, RB Terrell Jennings, LB Marte Mapu, WR Ja’Lynn Polk, RB Rhamondre Stevenson, LB Jahlani Tavai
Limited: S Jabrill Peppers, CB D.J. James
Left Early: IOL Jared Wilson
Tweet of the Day
Drake Maye to rookie Kyle Williams touchdown in 1 on 1’s.
–@CLNSMedia #Patriots #NFL pic.twitter.com/CNgtKlHJ6Y
— Patriots on CLNS (@PatriotsCLNS) August 14, 2025
Mike Vrabel’s Top Quotes of Note
On his impression of the first joint practice: “These practices are like a game – we’ve said that. There’s ups and downs. We hit some plays. They hit some plays. There’s an intermission, and again, there’s a break with special teams and then you – usually a two-minute situation at the end. So, we were able to make a play at the two-minute situation and kind of the same thing defensively. They hit some plays. We were able to have some good plays, and again, just looking for some consistency. And I think what they do defensively is a great challenge for us. To come up here without any real practice or any look and be able to have some good plays, and again, some plays that we have to improve on, but I think it’s a good start.”
On Drake Maye’s performance in the first joint practice: “I thought he did well. It’s easy to go into blender when you’re seeing a bunch of this stuff and kind of scrambling and turning one less than favorable play into a real shit storm. So, I didn’t see that. I thought he was able to process. And we didn’t execute all the time, but I didn’t see any panic from him. I thought he was able to communicate and get the things that he wanted and then hit some plays because of it. When we blocked him, we were able to make some plays and then we’ll just have to try to see what happens today and continue to go from there.”
On how Will Campbell fared against Jonathan Greenard: “Had some good plays and had some plays where he got beat inside. These are going to happen to young offensive linemen, so we’re not going to sit and evaluate every practice. I’ll let you guys do that, and we’ll go from there and just keep trying to improve.”
On if losing inside has been a repeat problem for Will Campbell: “Well, it’s come up with all of them. I don’t think that that’s just to single him out. We have to be firm in the middle and we have to stay inside-out and the quarterback has to transfer up into the pocket. So, those are all things that have to go hand-in-hand. We’ve talked about, it’s hard to block edge rushers if you give them a three-way go, which is inside over the top of you or around the edge, and then we have to force them around the edge and the quarterback has to transfer up into the pocket, and in order to do that, you have to be firm in the middle of the pocket. So, all those things have to come together. And when they do, it looks pretty good. And then when there’s breakdowns in those, or we’re not helping the guy next to us in pass rush games, or we don’t get open fast enough, there’s one thing after another.”
On WR coach Todd Downing saying you can’t confuse results with process: I don’t think that it has. I thought that, again, there’s days where the ball doesn’t find you. There’s one football. There’s five eligible receivers. The quarterback decides where he wants to go with the ball. No different than Kyle Williams. Kyle Williams is working extremely hard. Ball hasn’t really found him. He’s been open. There’s been separation. I’m not sure which day Todd said that, but the other day in the red zone, I thought that Stefon factored and looked good and keeps getting better, so I don’t think that that’s going to be always the case, right? As far as there’s a – Terrell mentioned this. Terrell Williams said this one time, ‘you can make the play without making a tackle, right?’ And that was something that you have to teach defensive linemen, is when they start trying to make a bunch of tackles, maybe they start hurting some of the people behind them and the fits and everything else because they’re trying to make a tackle, where there’s ways to do their job and really contribute to the defense without ever getting a stat. And those plays will come, just make the ones that you’re supposed to make. And I really equate that to, really, every position. But you asked about receiver, and then again, everybody wants to catch the ball, and everybody wants to score touchdowns, and those will come, and that’ll happen, and maybe on that particular day in which Todd said that, there wasn’t a ton of production from that practice day. I’m not really sure when he said that, but there’s other ways to be successful and do your job and help us win. That’s the most important thing.
On what Craig Woodson has shown: “He keeps, I think, getting better. I think he keeps learning, each day, some of the different techniques that maybe he didn’t use as much at Cal. I’ve seen him tackle. I think the special teams stuff was good. I think throwing himself in there into the fire on some of the special teams stuff was good to see. So, continue to see where he’s at just from his physicality and kind of go from there.”
On potentially moving Kyle Dugger to linebacker: “Yeah, I mean, we would consider anything to try to help the football team and help the player. That’s everything we want to try to do, is help every player earn a role and build a football team.”
Drake Maye Impresses Despite Dominant Day for Vikings
The Vikings decisively beat the Patriots during today’s joint practice.
Drake Maye stood out with one of his best performances this summer, but his supporting cast and defense struggled against Minnesota. The quarterback didn’t have any egregious misses or throws into bad looks, and the offense was humming when he had time and open targets. During 7-on-7s in the red zone, his most notable throws included finding Stefon Diggs in the back of the end one on his second read, hitting DeMario Douglas over the middle with three defenders in the area, and throwing away from coverage on a diving Kayshon Boutte grab near the sideline.
Things got rocky during red zone 11-on-11s, where Maye was under consistent pressure and had seemingly minimal options. Maye’s first three completions were short throws to Antonio Gibson and a screen to Douglas, and he scrambled on four of six plays midway through the period. Maye got back on track late with three scores to his tight ends, finding Hunter Henry wide open in the flat, hitting Henry on an 0ff-platform throw against an unblocked Jonathan Allen, and completing a tight-window throw over the middle to Austin Hooper. The quarterback also scrambled for a touchdown on his final series. Still, the pressure felt constant and Maye likely would’ve been sacked once by Allen and twice by Jonathan Greenard on wins against Will Campbell.
The offense’s performance continued to decline during full-field team drills. Douglas got wide open over the middle of the field on one rep, but turned upfield too quickly and dropped it. Maye also had to scramble when no one uncovered and was sacked on another Greenard win over Campbell.
The offense technically ended on a high note during an end-of-half situation. Mack Hollins had at least one downfield grab on a dig (also had an deep sideline target questionably ruled incomplete), and Kayshon Boutte boxed out two defenders on a Hail Mary. However, the offensive line struggled mightily. Morgan Moses gave up two would-be sacks, first on an inside rush from Allen, then around the edge against Dallas Turner, and Campbell was flagged for a false start.
The defense didn’t fare much better, with J.J. McCarthy having a huge bounce back day after a rough Wednesday.
The #Patriots defense is getting shredded today.
J.J. McCarthy is 14/16 with 5 TDs and 2 sacks in 11-on-11 periods covering the tight red zone and full-field drills. https://t.co/VIOMT3QdTa
— Andrew Callahan (@_AndrewCallahan) August 14, 2025
While I was focused on the offense for most of practice, I was able to watch the defense during their end-of-half period. McCarthy got the Vikings in Patriots territory on two scrambles, including a 3rd down conversion, then scored on a slant to Jordan Addison with Marcus Jones contesting.
As Josh McDaniels preaches, you either win a rep or you learn from it. In today’s case, the Patriots has a lot of learning to do on both sides of the ball. Mike Vrabel‘s squad must be more competitive in Saturday’s matchup to quell concerns about talent at certain spots, particularly receiver, offensive line, and defensive back.
Notebook
Though they lost momentum as practice went on, the Patriots’ wide receivers dominated in the red zone during 1-on-1s and 2-on-2s. Stefon Diggs and Efton Chism were constantly open and caught multiple scores. Kyle Williams had a drop after getting open on a dig, but scored and showed some physicality on two out-breakers. DeMario Douglas had two inaccurate targets (Vrabel coached him to come back to the ball on a pass that was thrown short), but he caught a pass in the corner of the end zone with two defenders in the area. Kayshon Boutte scored on fade and slant targets.
Javon Baker was open every time the ball came his way and didn’t have a drop, though Vrabel advised him to dance less after a 1-on-1 red zone score. His only glaring blemish was slipping on a late team red zone snap.
Joshua Dobbs had an excellent practice after a poor performance on Wednesday. He was on-time and put the ball on his receivers consistently, highlighted by a middle-field completion to Williams against tight coverage and a honey-hole shot to Mack Hollins. Dobbs also found an open Jack Westover to score during his end-of-half possession.
Jeremiah Webb had two impressive grabs in early red zone work, going up for a contested catch on a fade during 1-on-1s and getting open for a corner completion during 2-on-2s. I’ve been impressed by Webb’s toughness and burst.
Elijah Ponder returned to practice after getting banged up against the Commanders.