Monday Patriots Notebook 8/12: Henry Leaves Sunday’s Practice
Hunter Henry appeared to suffer an injury on Sunday, making him a player to keep an eye on this week.
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Some Patriots news and notes for this morning:
Sunday saw the New England Patriots get back to work following an off day for the players on Saturday, with the team getting set for this week’s upcoming joint practice and preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
However, there’s one player whose status might be in question after veteran tight end Hunter Henry appeared to suffer an injury on Sunday. According to multiple reports, the veteran suffered what reporters called a “lower leg/foot” injury.
Henry apparently suffered the injury during the team’s 7-on-7 drill on Sunday, coming up lame after one rep. Henry then tried walking it off, but eventually was forced to take himself out and consult with the team’s medical staff.
Henry was then reportedly taken to the athletic shed for evaluation before ultimately leaving the field and going to the locker room.
The veteran did walk off the field under his own power and the injury didn’t seem to be that serious, but his loss will remain something to monitor given his value to the team.
Henry was among the club’s most targeted receivers on third down last season, with the tight end catching 10-of-16 targets with 9 first downs, a team-high in 2023. He also signed an extension this offseason and is the Patriots’ top tight end, with both Austin Hooper and Mitchell Wilcox coming in behind him on the depth chart.
He was active Thursday night against the Panthers but didn’t play a snap, with fellow veteran Austin Hooper (4 snaps), Mitchell Wilcox (32 snaps), rookie Jaheim Bell (32 snaps), Jacob Warren (17 snaps), and La’Michael Pettway (13 snaps) instead seeing action.
Much of the discussion coming off of Thursday night’s game was the fact that rookie quarterback Drake Maye saw limited action, with Maye only being out there for a total of six snaps against the Panthers.
Mayo explained that part of that reasoning had to do with ensuring that the rookie was out there behind the starting offensive line, while also noting those players had been a little nicked up.
After Jacoby Brissett started things off in his own lone offensive series, Bailey Zappe came into the game after Maye’s series, and he saw the lion’s share of the action. Zappe played late into the third quarter, with his final play coming with 6:59 left to go before Joe Milton came into the game.
Zappe came onto the field led to a chorus of boos from the fans at Gillette Stadium, who were apparently not pleased with braving the rain to watch the rookie, only to watch Maye leave the field so early in the game.
With the Eagles set to visit and a joint practice on tap, Mayo said it’s a big week for Maye and the rest of the quarterbacks, noting that the rookie will see more action this time around.
“For all the quarterbacks, it’s a huge week for those guys to really show development,” said Mayo. “Drake will play more this week, for sure.”
After shedding his non-contact jersey, Demario Douglas saw a fair amount of action on Sunday.
The second-year receiver was targeted quite a bit during the session, with Douglas coming up with some nice plays during the team portion of practice, including a diving touchdown during Brissett’s final period.
His injury didn’t appear to be serious, with Douglas seemingly dealing with a hand injury that occurred at some point early in training camp. He was spotted wearing a wrap during that span, while catching passes in warm ups but sitting out various portions of the team periods while wearing a red non-contact jersey.
This is obviously a big year for Douglas, who finished 2023 first on the team in receiving yards (561) and second on the team in receptions (49), with the hope that this might potentially be an even bigger year for the former Liberty receiver.
The Patriots offensive line on Sunday saw Vederian Lowe back at left tackle, with Sidy Sow at left guard, David Andrews at center, Mike Onwenu at right guard, and Chukwuma Okorafor at right tackle. Each player in that group also started and played just 10 snaps Thursday night, with Lowe being the lone exception after he played seven additional snaps, finishing with 17 before his night ended. Head coach Jerod Mayo had praise for Lowe on Monday. “Yeah, look, this is one of the quietest offensive linemen I’ve ever been around, but this guy goes out there every single day and improves,” said Mayo. “He has great athleticism, great length, and look forward to seeing him against better competition.”… Mayo said on Sunday that the decision behind the release of veteran wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster was made to open up reps for the younger players. “It was a decision between Eliot [Wolf] and myself, really to give the younger guys an opportunity to go out there and get more reps and show what they can do,” he said. … Tyquan Thornton continues to gain momentum, coming up with several big catches during Sunday’s practice while showing some terrific elusiveness and separation. His change of direction has also been impressive, with Thornton often coming out of his break and accelerating so quickly that the defender is left scrambling to make a play. So far, that’s been one of the biggest surprises, and had Jacoby Brissett not underthrown him Thursday night, Thornton might have had a shot at a big play after getting behind his man on a deep ball after making a similar move against Carolina that ended up as an incompletion. … While Joe Milton was fun to watch on Thursday night, he apparently got some criticism in the film room. Mayo noted on Sunday that ball security was a point of emphasis, and he hopes the rookie got the message. “I know it looked cool, but It’s always a dangerous thing, swinging the ball around like that,” said Mayo. “But this is a guy who’s working hard every single day and getting better.” … As we saw all offseason, coming off a 4-13 campaign, attracting free agents has been a challenge here in New England. Mayo was asked about that Sunday and he acknowledged that establishing a winning culture is what will obviously be needed to change that. He also noted that they weren’t the only team turned away during the recent negotiations with Brandon Aiyuk, with the Patriots ultimately having to walk away from that one. “I think Aiyuk is still in San Francisco right now, and some other teams … he didn’t go to some other teams as well,” said Mayo. “What I will say is, look, when we start to win games, guys will want to come here. When we start to establish the culture, establish the roster, I think guys will be excited to come back [here after their visit].” … One other interesting note was the fact that Mayo is including the special teams coordinators in the game day communications, which he said Sunday didn’t happen previously. “The special teams coaches in the past didn’t have headsets here,” said Mayo. “And so now they do have headsets because I think it’s important that we’re all tied in. That’s just my philosophy.”
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Tom Curran and Felger were doubling down yesterday on the heresy class move of not putting your top QBs in the game longer vs CAR. In the rain. In preseason game 1 vs a bunch of backups on CAR. Putting them at risk of injury when your giving Brisset and Maye essentially ALL the practice reps, where Zappe/Milton get almost zero. And Brisset and Maye getting a nice bright RED shirt on in controlled practices – for protection. Hmm… what gives here. Not playing your starters most of pre-season games, especially week 1, is the norm for the team and… Read more »