Seven Thoughts Following Tuesday’s Patriots/Eagles Joint Practice
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Some quick thoughts coming off the Patriots joint practices:
1) Patriots young WRs make some noise: One thing that stood out on Tuesday was the fact the Patriots young receivers held their own against Philadelphia, with several of them making plays during the session.
Demario Douglas, Ja’Lynn Polk and Tyquan Thornton were among guys who definitely stood out, with the each showing tremendous speed and acceleration coming out of their routes to the point where they ended up all alone on multiple receptions against Philly’s defensive backs.
While some might say the club still lacks a top-tier player on the outside, this is a group that continues to look more and more formidable as the weeks have progressed so far this summer.
Polk continues to look as advertised with each passing practice, often making some solid contested catches along with showing a good ability to create separation. Demario Douglas has also had a tremendous camp, and Thornton’s growth thus far continues to quietly be one of the stories of the preseason.
Various videos online have popped up over the offseason of Thornton working with a receiver’s coach as it pertains to his footwork, and the results appear to be paying off. He’s looked like a completely different player, adding lateral speed and change of direction, both of which were attributes it didn’t feel like he had previously after appearing to just be more of a straight-line player.
As he heads into his third season, it will be interesting to see if this is finally the year he makes an impact, which is something this team absolutely needs for an offense that heads into 2024 with so much uncertainty.
2) Offensive Line remains a big question mark: The offensive line definitely remains a work in progress, especially as it relates to the second group.
Rookie Drake Maye found himself under duress and was sacked on most of his final plays as the practice came to a close.
The first group certainly has its own questions, with Vederian Lowe (LT), Sidy Sow (LG), David Andrews (C), Mike Onweu (RG), and Chukwuma Okorafor (RT) appearing to be the starting group after they again opened Tuesday’s practice together. They had some good moments but were still shaky at times, which obviously continues to have them as a question mark.
Calvin Anderson saw time with the backups at left tackle on Tuesday, with Atonio Mafi stepping in at center at one point late in the session in front of the rookie.
One thing that was notable was the fact Michael Jordan did see some action as an extra tight end during a personnel grouping, which – as we saw in 2021 – could be something we see them do in order to provide some help.
But beyond the first group, it was ugly at times and that limited Maye from being able to do much offensively. At the same time, he at least made the most of what he had to work with overall on Tuesday, which was one positive the team could take away from it.
3) Offense fizzled down the stretch: Seeing the way things finished was disappointing, especially since Maye made some unbelievable plays during the beginning of practice, including an unreal throw to Polk on a downfield pass.
https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1823379650736800003
Maye managed to put a couple of those together, and during various points of the practice, he did a great job of taking what was being given to him. But the lack of protection continued to be an issue and it made things difficult, with the Eagles blowing things up down the stretch for the offense.
His two minute drive at the end of Tuesday’s practice was as disaster, with his final four plays finishing with sacks on three of those snaps and an incompletion on another.
Needless to say, it wasn’t an ideal way to finish, but give him credit for the good throws he did manage against what’s certainly a good group on the defensive side of things for Philadelphia.
4) Douglas gaining momentum: Demario Douglas seemed unstoppable in the various clips that came out on Tuesday, with the rookie seemingly healthy after finally shedding his no-contact jersey recently.
Douglas’ quickness was on full display as he joined both Polk and Thornton among players who more than held their own against Philadelphia’s defense.
He remains a player who will likely be a key part of New England’s offensive success this season, and the only question might ultimately end up being just how many receptions he’ll tally in 2024.
One would have to believe that number may find him among the NFL leaders, as it just feels like he might be poised for quite a sophomore season.
5) Mafi experiment still isn’t working: Atonio Mafi continues to struggle when he’s stepped in at center, which has to make you wonder just how long the team will continue with this experiment.
His issues were apparent down the stretch on Tuesday, with Mafi seemingly being among the culprits behind Maye’s late struggles.
Mafi has had his moments in the past at guard and is definitely a guy who has good strength and power. But regardless of whatever it is that he’s lacking, it just feels like this attempt by the club at trying to allow him to carve out a role at center just isn’t working.
As far as what that will mean for his future, the clock is definitely ticking in that regard. But based on what we’ve seen so far, it will be interesting to see if New England continues to stick with this, or if they opt to ultimately take the loss and move him elsewhere.
6) Despite a scuffle, cooler heads prevailed: Jerod Mayo said before practice that there would be significant penalties for anyone caught throwing a punch in the event of an altercation, noting that anyone who took part in that would be both kicked out of practice, and forced to play in the entirety of Thursday’s game.
The latter was obviously a tongue-in-cheek comment, but Mayo made it clear he didn’t want anyone exchanging blows.
“Look, we’re out here as football players, not fighters, and that’s the message to the team,” said Mayo. “I mean, look, you don’t fight in a real game. When you fight in a real game, you get fined, you get kicked out. It’s the same thing here.”
“My message to the players, if you’re getting a fight out here, if you’re a starter, you’re going to play the whole preseason again. If you’re not a starter, you won’t play at all. So that’s my mindset with that.”
Joshua Uche was involved in a scuffle at one point during practice, marking the second time this preseason he’s gotten into it with an opposing player. Tuesday saw him get into it with Eagles tight end E.J. Jenkins, with Uche apparently taking offense to a late hit on a special teams drill.
Fortunately, no one was ejected and practice continued, which likely means we won’t see any familiar faces out there for four quarters Thursday night.
7) Business as usual for Judon: It’s good to see that Matthew Judon appears to be in good spirits, despite his ongoing contract dispute.
The veteran was spotted racing downfield and giving some Eagles players lessons in ball security, knocking the ball out of their hands on a couple of plays where they didn’t appear to be fully paying attention at the end of the play.
He was out there flying around on various plays and to this point it at least feels like there’s some sense of normalcy based on how things have been.
There were rumors on Monday that multiple teams had inquired on potential trades for the veteran, but so far nothing has materialized. It remains to be seen whether or not the two sides will be able to settle the issue with his $6.5 million salary for this season, which is definitely well under his market value.
The logical step would seemingly be to find a middle ground where he’s given a bump and allowed to play out his final season at a more reasonable number. Yet, the club has either chosen not to or Judon has refused.
The only ones who know for sure are the ones who will need to iron this out. But it remains a situation that will hopefully reach some sort of resolution before September gets here.
Overall, it felt like a productive practice given the work both sides were able to get in. While some were certainly hoping for a better day on offense, it ended up as an up-and-down outing, albeit it was good to see some of the younger players hold their own against someone in another uniform. Neither Maye or Jacoby Brissett were able to get much going during the two minute portions of practice, largely due to the continued issues up front.
Mayo has repeatedly called the offensive line a work in progress and that was evident given what we’ve seen. But with just a few weeks to go ahead of the regular season, the next question is just how much growth they can really experience, or what exactly they’ll be able to do in order to solve this issue.
Whether that means moving Onwenu back to tackle and moving guys around remains to be seen, but so far, it’s a question that for now, still sits without an answer heading into these final weeks.
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Off-line and 15 sacks: Do we know if 1/2 those sacks were given up by the second team offensive line? In other words Maye played with the 2nd unit and Brissett the 1’s….where 1/2 or more of the sacks were on Maye. Phil Perry eluded to that but it wasn’t clear. It matters as we know the 2nd/back-up unit is not capable. So no major surprise there. But the 1st unit was intact and was bad as well. That is a problem. It would be interesting to get AVP’s take as to what % of the problem is: (a) player… Read more »