PATRIOTS TRAINING CAMP 2026 Patriots Training Camp - Day 20

[BUSTAMOVE]

Best Patriots 4th rounder since....?

Rhamondre Stevenson

Edit: Because if I said Javon Baker. I would be rightfully trashed

 

[Real fan 02]

Not a Woods fan.

I think @captain stone and I have spoken on this.. lost in the woods may not even make the roster.. prunty & valdor seem to have surpassed him on the depth chart..

 

[patchick]

No. The starters are the same as last year but the depth is concerning. And the future even more concerning.

Agreed, the EDGE group may be underwhelming but at least Ponder and Jacas are a promising young foundation. At ILB they seem to be giving every player in camp a chance to run with the 1s and nobody is leaping out.

 

[Real fan 02]

How long are we giving Pop Douglas?

Pop has had a phenomenal camp and toasted the eagles DBs today. I believe he's a starter and will be given every opportunity to remain there until he proves otherwise this season. AJ, Doubs and pop will be the starters.

 

[manxman2601]

Agreed, the EDGE group may be underwhelming but at least Ponder and Jacas are a promising young foundation. At ILB they seem to be giving every player in camp a chance to run with the 1s and nobody is leaping out.

And Spillane is carrying a 13m cap hit next year at age 32 and Elliss is out of contract. The LB cupboard is pretty bare beyond this year.

 

[Real fan 02]

Agreed, the EDGE group may be underwhelming but at least Ponder and Jacas are a promising young foundation. At ILB they seem to be giving every player in camp a chance to run with the 1s and nobody is leaping out.

Agreed. It's really inconceivable to try to understand why Vrabel's not made a move there. Thought Thibiduaux would have been a guy we traded for. Edge is lacking for sure.. essentially 3 guys jacas, Ponder and Jones..

 

[Headcase]

Pop has had a phenomenal camp and toasted the eagles DBs today. I believe he's a starter and will be given every opportunity to remain there until he proves otherwise this season. AJ, Doubs and pop will be the starters.

Typical preseason Pop.

 

[n1997y]

I think @captain stone and I have spoken on this.. lost in the woods may not even make the roster.. prunty & valdor seem to have surpassed him on the depth chart..

CB depth is not a worry atm. Not as deep as WR but still solid.

Interesting to look at the overall roster through the lens of this discussion of priorities and values. We are very deep at most of the positions @upstater1 identifies as most important. WR and CB depth is easy to see. Tommy Two Chains and even Salt Morton have been looking really good from most reports. LT has Bryant stepping up with his sophomore jump, with first round talent in Lomu being groomed behind him.

The only question mark is the last one on the list, pass rushers. That’s with Jacas still trying to catch up, Landry still on PUP, and Ponder and Swinson showing improvement in practice but yet to be measured in game play. And on the inside of our DL, Barmore and Williams notched 5.5 sacks last season so there’s at least some interior pass rush.

I don’t think it’s just coincidence that we are deepest at the most important positions.

You need a football strategist to put the priorities in place.

CB is one of those positions that ranges over huge swaths of the field. The most yards are gained in the passing game. This is why QBs, WRs, CBs are highly valued positions, along with LTs. This is where the bread is buttered. And of course, pass rushers who can get to the QB, they too impact the passing game.

But RBs, TEs, DTs and LBs make much less, because they are more involved in the run game and the short passing game.

If you look at each position by how many yards they make/give up, the money flows to the positions with the most yards. QB>WR>Pass Rusher> tie between CB and LT

 

[Real fan 02]

Typical preseason Pop.

Can't argue with you there. He looks stronger though let's see if it translates.

 

[Real fan 02]

CB depth is not a worry atm. Not as deep as WR but still solid.

Interesting to look at the overall roster through the lens of this discussion of priorities and values. We are very deep at most of the positions @upstater1 identifies as most important. WR and CB depth is easy to see. Tommy Two Chains and even Salt Morton have been looking really good from most reports. LT has Bryant stepping up with his sophomore jump, with first round talent in Lomu being groomed behind him.

The only question mark is the last one on the list, pass rushers. That’s with Jacas still trying to catch up, Landry still on PUP, and Ponder and Swinson showing improvement in practice but yet to be measured in game play. And on the inside of our DL, Barmore and Williams notched 5.5 sacks last season so there’s at least some interior pass rush.

I don’t think it’s just coincidence that we are deepest at the most important positions.

Great points. Upstate also made a great mention of it as you mentioned yourself. I see it like this. I really believe the offense will be top 5 this season. I'm really convinced of this. AJ and Doubs provide elements to the offense we haven't had in a good while. Also the TE raridon is also impressive. Rham looks more motivated than ever and the offensive line is better. They help up well against that eagles front. The defense without gonzo in the secondary Will never be able to fully play to capacity Gonzo is the key to what we do on defense he's a dominant player at his position and you can do so much up front when you have an eraser at CB.

We need Gonzo. Now the pass rush absolutely we have some young guys with great potential and solid Vet in Jones. Landry won't be on the field any time soon. Swinson will he do anything impactful? There needs to be another move made and still scratching my head to why Vrabel's not adding at edge?

 

[patfanken]

I was at the practice today. Went with my Goddaughter, and her stepmom. A birthday present for myself. That's the good news.

Arrived at 8:30 and got into a line that was about a half mile from the gate. When the gate was opened, we wound up with seats on GL closest to the hill. And it was BAKING hot. The crowd literally cheered every time a cloud gave us some momentary cover. So now with seats, with a less-than-ideal view of the field I had to wait half hour waiting for the practice to start, and another half hour watching the always thrilling stretching and warm up segment of practice, with the highlight of that hour was watching the helicopter land. (it WAS pretty cool to watch up close)

It's been a few years since I was a regular visitor to camp practices. Anyway, given the bad seats, heat, and the fact they split practice so all I really got to see was the offense because the D was practicing on the far field and impossible to see and most of the one-on-one drills were held on the opposite GL, so, all I seem to see was more "indications" than actual fact. But here is what I saw this morning.

1. Maye can throw the damned ball. He wasn't perfect, but a high percentage of his throws were on target and on the few that weren't the WR's made the catches or at least had a chance for a completion. I recall only one pass that was simply overthrown and one crosser that was a miss. The offense SHOULD will a majority of the 7 on 7 work due to no rush and lots of open field for receivers, but Maye's accuracy still was special.

2. Talk about receiver depth. 2 guys who popped for me was surprisingly Mack Hollins and Kyle Williams. In drills, Mack seemed to be always open, and a lot of his routes had him deep downfield. Most of his catches came with Devito at QB, but he got some with Maye as well. I left practice thinking that Hollis can still be effective when he is in there.

The other guy who impressed me was KW. He showed a lot more "wiggle" than last season down field. He was always good at getting a decent release off the LOS, but in this practice, I saw more complexity in his route running downfield. He was a lot more than the "Kyle, you go long" guy he was last season. His hands seem to be strong, and we know he's fast, and while he might not bloom fully until next year, I am very hopeful Kyle Williams is going to be a real contributor sooner rather than later

3. Whenever I could, I would always try and watch the OL when they were going live. My first impression was that Campbell was much more physical than he was last season. He wasn't just mirroring guys, he was stoning them and keeping them on or near the LOS in pass protection. I was surprised to see him on someone's down list.

I also wanted to see how Wilson was doing as he readjusts to being back at C. He looked solid as well, and that's a VERY good DL he faced. Also, the run blocking looked crisper and real holes were being opened up. Again, not perfect, but getting visibly better overall.

4. The situation periods also visibly improved over what we saw in Colt's scrimmages and Philly has a much better overall D than the Colts had.

So, as a coach, the most important thing you want to see is IMPROVEMENT. Are the players working hard and responding to your coaching? Are you teaching them the right skills they need to excel? Are YOU putting into positions that they can succeed? That is what Vrabel and staff will hope to see when they go over the film of today's practice. Who is getting it, and who is not, and how can we get the guys in the latter category to upgrade their performances.

Tomorrow is a new day, and I'll let someone else tell me what is happening and sorry for the ****ty job I did today.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

And yet he was the 10th highest graded corner in last year's draft. I'm just annoyed with myself that I didn't pick up on that. There's clearly something there with him. He also tested reasonably well. I'm surprised Brugler and others were so low on him.

It is great if the draft niks keep missing ringers and the Pats keep drafting them in R4 and later. Shhhhhhhhhh!

PS the Pats have a whole scouting department watching all the games - they should find later round needles in the haystack.

 

[Real fan 02]

And Spillane is carrying a 13m cap hit next year at age 32 and Elliss is out of contract. The LB cupboard is pretty bare beyond this year.

If you look around the league not many teams have great ILBs.. Spillane is a field general and plays within his strengths.. we need some other guys like Obiazor, Hutchins or Jacobs should they make the roster to be able to become factors. Ellis is a guy who's physical and plays hard.. really all you ask for. We likely look to add at LB next draft for sure.

 

[manxman2601]

It is great if the draft niks keep missing ringers and the Pats keep drafting them in R4 and later. Shhhhhhhhhh!

PS the Pats have a whole scouting department watching all the games - they should find later round needles in the haystack.

I think the scouting department did a really good job where so many seemed to miss. It gives me hope for people like Bryant and Obiazor. And for all the day 3 picks in the future.

 

[mgteich]

And Spillane is carrying a 13m cap hit next year at age 32 and Elliss is out of contract. The LB cupboard is pretty bare beyond this year.

Spillane's new money for 2027 will be $10M, good value.

Of course, the issue is the future.

We have no quality backups for 2026, and no prospects for 2027. I would think that we may be considering an extension for Elliss.

2027
We have Spillane at $10M, likely in his last year.
We don't need A linebacker for 2027. We need THREE.

 

[Pape]

3. Whenever I could, I would always try and watch the OL when they were going live. My first impression was that Campbell was much more physical than he was last season. He wasn't just mirroring guys, he was stoning them and keeping them on or near the LOS in pass protection. I was surprised to see him on someone's down list.

I also wanted to see how Wilson was doing as he readjusts to being back at C. He looked solid as well, and that's a VERY good DL he faced. Also, the run blocking looked crisper and real holes were being opened up. Again, not perfect, but getting visibly better overall.

thank you for this insight

 

[mgteich]

Agreed, the EDGE group may be underwhelming but at least Ponder and Jacas are a promising young foundation. At ILB they seem to be giving every player in camp a chance to run with the 1s and nobody is leaping out.

The open question is whether we have anyone on the team that Vrabel can trust If Spillane or Elliss goes down. Perhaps, someone who is listed as an EDGE player can take reps inside if needed.

We certainly have room for additions from other teams, especially if Landry starts on PUP. Thin is greatly overstates the level of our backups.

EDGE: Jones, Ponder, Jacas, Swinson
ILB: Spillane, Elliss
PUP: Landry
==========
How many of these would anyone claim or want to sign to their PS? Stated differently, which of these belong on any team's 53-man squad?
Muma, Britt, Holmes, Hutchins, Luketa, Obiazor, Gainer?

And, yes, I do understand that one or two could make the 53 as a STer.

 

[scott99]

I was at the practice today. Went with my Goddaughter, and her stepmom. A birthday present for myself. That's the good news.

Arrived at 8:30 and got into a line that was about a half mile from the gate. When the gate was opened, we wound up with seats on GL closest to the hill. And it was BAKING hot. The crowd literally cheered every time a cloud gave us some momentary cover. So now with seats, with a less-than-ideal view of the field I had to wait half hour waiting for the practice to start, and another half hour watching the always thrilling stretching and warm up segment of practice, with the highlight of that hour was watching the helicopter land. (it WAS pretty cool to watch up close)

It's been a few years since I was a regular visitor to camp practices. Anyway, given the bad seats, heat, and the fact they split practice so all I really got to see was the offense because the D was practicing on the far field and impossible to see and most of the one-on-one drills were held on the opposite GL, so, all I seem to see was more "indications" than actual fact. But here is what I saw this morning.

1. Maye can throw the damned ball. He wasn't perfect, but a high percentage of his throws were on target and on the few that weren't the WR's made the catches or at least had a chance for a completion. I recall only one pass that was simply overthrown and one crosser that was a miss. The offense SHOULD will a majority of the 7 on 7 work due to no rush and lots of open field for receivers, but Maye's accuracy still was special.

2. Talk about receiver depth. 2 guys who popped for me was surprisingly Mack Hollins and Kyle Williams. In drills, Mack seemed to be always open, and a lot of his routes had him deep downfield. Most of his catches came with Devito at QB, but he got some with Maye as well. I left practice thinking that Hollis can still be effective when he is in there.

The other guy who impressed me was KW. He showed a lot more "wiggle" than last season down field. He was always good at getting a decent release off the LOS, but in this practice, I saw more complexity in his route running downfield. He was a lot more than the "Kyle, you go long" guy he was last season. His hands seem to be strong, and we know he's fast, and while he might not bloom fully until next year, I am very hopeful Kyle Williams is going to be a real contributor sooner rather than later

3. Whenever I could, I would always try and watch the OL when they were going live. My first impression was that Campbell was much more physical than he was last season. He wasn't just mirroring guys, he was stoning them and keeping them on or near the LOS in pass protection. I was surprised to see him on someone's down list.

I also wanted to see how Wilson was doing as he readjusts to being back at C. He looked solid as well, and that's a VERY good DL he faced. Also, the run blocking looked crisper and real holes were being opened up. Again, not perfect, but getting visibly better overall.

4. The situation periods also visibly improved over what we saw in Colt's scrimmages and Philly has a much better overall D than the Colts had.

So, as a coach, the most important thing you want to see is IMPROVEMENT. Are the players working hard and responding to your coaching? Are you teaching them the right skills they need to excel? Are YOU putting into positions that they can succeed? That is what Vrabel and staff will hope to see when they go over the film of today's practice. Who is getting it, and who is not, and how can we get the guys in the latter category to upgrade their performances.

Tomorrow is a new day, and I'll let someone else tell me what is happening and sorry for the ****ty job I did today.

I think you did a great job ! Thanks for the report !

 

[manxman2601]

The open question is whether we have anyone on the team that Vrabel can trust If Spillane or Elliss goes down. Perhaps, someone who is listed as an EDGE player can take reps inside if needed.

Or switch to 3 safeties in that instance with maybe Woodson playing closer to the LoS.

 

[n1997y]

Tomorrow is a new day, and I'll let someone else tell me what is happening and sorry for the ****ty job I did today.

No need to apologize, it was the opposite of a ****ty job, in fact rather stellar as your posts consistently have been.

Your posts are always a high point. THANKS!

Particularly appreciate your comments about WRs and the OL. Hearing your impressions of Hollins and KW is both helpful and encouraging.