Some Patriots news and notes for this Thursday:
Godchaux Deal Gets Done
The Patriots ironed out a deal with veteran Davon Godchaux on Wednesday, ending a contract stalemate that prior to yesterday appeared to have some uncertainty surrounding it.
With the blood clot diagnosis for Christian Barmore, New England’s run defense had taken a considerable hit and seemingly added some urgency for the two sides to get something done.
Fortunately, that’s what happened, which now gives them some additional depth in a key area of need.
For Godchaux, his approach so far this training camp, when it came to quietly suiting up and doing what he needed to out there, is something that appeared to help his cause and head coach Jerod Mayo acknowledged as much during his press conference on Thursday.
“Yeah, that is our philosophy. And once again, this isn’t unique to the New England Patriots as far as guys wanting a new contract,” said Mayo. “But he handled it like a professional in the classroom and out here on the field. He was out here full pads, participating in everything. And that definitely helps.”
When asked about how Godchaux’s impact during Barmore’s absence, Mayo admitted that replacing Barmore will be a challenge and that the team will likely need multiple players to pick up the slack.
“Honestly, those are two different types of players,” said Mayo. “The one thing about having DG back, it does provide some stability up front. Now, in saying that, by committee, we’ll have to try to replace the production of Christian.”
Judon Returns to Practice
Mayo said during his press conference that Matthew Judon would be out on the field participating, and that’s what happened on Thursday.
The veteran was on the field with his helmet with his signature visor, along with his red sleeves and shoulder pads as he took part in the various team drills that took place.
Mayo said that the two had a discussion on what happened on Monday, and they appear to be in a better place. While the veteran still sits in limbo when it comes to his contract, it sounds like they’ve at least patched things up enough for him to be back out there.
“It was good. It was healthy,” said Mayo of their discussion. “I always encourage those guys to come in and speak with me or speak with Elliot [Wolf]. That’s what it is. And those things should happen inside of the walls.”
Better Day For Maye
Rookie Drake Maye had a better showing on Thursday than he had the previous two days. The rookie seemed to be getting back to basics, and it appeared that the day off the players had yesterday was spent trying to get a better handle on things, as well as appearing sharper overall than what we saw earlier in the week.
According to various reports, Maye seemed to have a better grasp pre-snap, with Maye making a couple of adjustments including one where he made a nice throw near the goal line to K.J. Osborn.
Mark Daniels of MASSLIVE reports that Maye finished the 11-on-11 portion of practice completing 5-of-6, with the rookie getting a fair amount of work in the red area.
To this point, even when he’s struggled, Maye hasn’t hung his head or looked frustrated, which is something that Mayo alluded to on Thursday. He also said that type of mentality is one of the reasons why they drafted Maye, with Mayo explaining on Thursday that things aren’t always going to go his way and the way he’s handled himself is something that’s impressed him.
“I got this feeling when we met with Drake in Carolina, just his overall mental toughness and competitiveness,” said Mayo. “And he understands that it’s not always going to be clean. I will say this, he’s handled it very well. I know that the players really enjoy working with him, and he’s a competitor.”
Odds and Ends
Jerod Mayo told reporters on Thursday that he’s spoken with Christian Barmore, who seems to be taking his diagnosis one day at a time. “Just talking about Christian, I’ve had a couple of conversations with him,” said Mayo. “He’s in good spirits. It’s one of those things that you really can’t control, but when he’s ready to go, he’ll be here.” … When asked if that might include this season, Mayo deflected and said it’s up to the doctors. “Honestly, I’m not sure. I’ll leave that to the medical professionals,” said Mayo. “I’m really not sure. I’m just happy that he’s doing better.” … Mayo said in addition to not holding a practice Wednesday they gave players the day off. However, he also said they expected good energy this morning, which appeared to be the case. “We gave the guys a day off yesterday to come out here today and be energized,” he said. … Thursday’s practice started off with extra conditioning. So for anyone who thought Mayo might be soft with his players, it was a reminder that he understands the task at hand and the players got some necessary running in with one week to go until their first preseason game. … Tyrone Wheatley, Jajeim Bell, Jake Andrews, and Marte Mapu were each absent for the start of practice, although Mapu was spotted later in the session watching with the defense. … Kendrick Bourne was on the field during stretching, and seemed to be in good spirits, smiling and shaking hands with Jalen Reagor before practice. He continues taking a cautious approach as he remains on PUP coming off his knee injury from last season. … Jabril Peppers was present but not participating. He appeared to tweak his leg and left practice on Tuesday and the club is clearly being careful with where he’s at as well. … Marcus Jones continued his strong start and made some nice plays Thursday, but he appeared to get nicked up late in practice after being spotted with trainers while also being evaluated in the medical tent. … David Andrews was back at practice and lining up at center Thursday. That was good to see, after Andrews had been absent over the previous two sessions. … Thursday was another solid outing for Jacoby Brissett, who is really building some momentum after putting up some really nice throws, including a dart to Tyquan Thornton against Christian Gonzalez for a touchdown. While it wasn’t perfect, he appears fully in command at this point, and based on how things look right now, he remains the likely player under center to begin the season. … According to Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald, Vederian Lowe saw time at left tackle, which is a change from who had been there previously. Prior to today, rookie Caedan Wallace had been seeing significant reps there. Instead, Lowe saw some snaps there in his place, while Chukwuma Okorafor lined up again at right tackle, with Calvin Anderson taking second-team reps behind him. … Joe Milton still appears to have the edge over Bailey Zappe, with the rookie making a couple nice throws again on Thursday. That remains a big question mark as Mayo has previously hinted they may eventually whittle things down to three players at that position. … Demario Douglas remained in a red non-contact jersey but did take part in team-drills Thursday. … Thornton showed up in a big way this morning, making several nice plays against their top defensive back in Gonzalez. Overall, Thornton showed some good quickness and acceleration and arguably had one of his best practices to date.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
Pats signed Mike Purcell, nose tackle. 6’3″ 328 lbs That will help with Baremore out and the pats had DT/big body depth issues before Baremore went down. Run stuffer. 33 years old. Played 8 seasons. Mostly with Den and SF. Started 10 games last year. He’s an anchor only. True NT. But the pats need that. You don’t want to see Joe Mixon/Cincy getting 27 carries for 130 yds in Sept, else Burrow will have easy throws on play action. Sounds odd to some but plugging the middle is a key first step to stopping the pass. Get the other… Read more »