Good morning. Happy Father’s Day to all of the great dads out there. Anyone can be a father. But being a great dad is another thing entirely. Here is your Patriots news, 6-15, and notes this week. The Patriots’ spring workouts, OTAs, and minicamp are over. The players are on a break until late July, when they return for training camp and the preseason, when the heavy lifting will begin.
Spring Workouts Are Over…Now We Wait:
The way the team practices reflects the personality of head coach Mike Vrabel. The practices are run at a crisp tempo, with offense and defense building up to full-speed reps, something Evan Lazar pointed out on Patriots.com.
“For example, the offense begins by running plays against air and then at a jog-through pace against a defense before running those same plays in live 11-on-11s. By doing so, they’re building muscle memory, leading to cleaner competitive periods with seemingly fewer mental errors. You’re not seeing many pre-snap penalties or players lining up incorrectly — it’s been mostly smooth.”
It was a productive good spring, but now the padded practices will begin to show how far they have come along in the rebuild. On paper and without pads, things look significantly better than they did a year ago.
The offensive line, in particular, will look vastly different, but will they perform as a cohesive unit and be able to protect Drake Maye this year, generating the push needed for the running game to get going?
With the wide receiver room consisting of 12 players, we are looking at half of those players being gone. It will make for a very competitive training camp. Although the health of some players will bear watching.
Stefon Diggs is still rehabbing his ACL injury, and although he appears like he will be ready for Week 1, we’ll have to see. Ja’Lynn Polk had offseason shoulder surgery, and Mack Hollins was present for every spring workout but didn’t practice. If any of those guys aren’t ready, it could open the door for another player to make the roster at least temporarily.
Some things I’m excited to watch…
With Josh McDaniels back as the Offensive Coordinator, the Patriots have added some legitimate speed in the backfield with TreVeyon Henderson and Kyle Williams at wide receiver. Henderson out of the backfield will be something to monitor this year.
Williams has shown that his speed will be something to watch for. In minicamp, he split a pair of deep defenders and caught a 40-yard-plus deep pass from Josh Dobbs.
The new look Vrabel-Williams defense. Having a healthy Christian Barmore back for the defense and pairing him next to Milton Williams will be fun to watch. The two seem to be already very close, and they should set the tone alongside Harold Landry and Keion White.
The linebackers and secondary were also areas where the team made significant changes. Robert Spillane should be a tailor-made fit for this defense. And the addition of Carlton Davis to play opposite Christian Gonzalez gives the Patriots one of the better cornerback tandems in the league.
Quick Hitters For the Patriots and NFL News:
Marte Mapu: The Patriots have moved Mapu to linebacker, and for the past few years, many of us have been calling for that move, something that should play to his strengths.
Head coach Mike Vrabel believes that Mapu will be a more natural fit at linebacker due to his size, 6’3 “and 230 pounds. Mapu was a 3rd Round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, but has been a tweener, part linebacker, part safety, but no more it seems.
“We don’t want to waste anybody’s time,” Vrabel said. “Just trying to find some versatility for him. He’s got a unique skill set. He’s got a good size, good length. He’s a good blitzer.”
“We just thought that that could help him,” Vrabel added, “and obviously try to help us.”
Tom Brady: The Patriots have announced that a statue of Brady will be unveiled at Gillette Stadium on August 8, prior to the preseason game against Washington.
The team announced the details on Thursday, June 12 which is known as “Tom Brady Day” in Patriots territory, and the date also can be written as 6/12. That represents the number of Super Bowl championships Brady won with the team (six) and his jersey number (12).
Brady, 47, holds the league records for completions (7,753), pass attempts (12,050), passing yards (89,214) and touchdown passes (649). He added his record seventh Super Bowl championship with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2020 season.
“The 12-foot statue will stand alone in the plaza outside of the Hall of Fame to symbolize his position, not as the greatest in franchise history, but as the greatest in all of NFL history,” team owner Robert Kraft said.
Drake Maye: The second-year QB is pretty fired up about the Josh McDaniels offense as he’s getting really comfortable with it.
Maye stated after Day 1 of minicamp that he wanted to keep playing.”I’m starting to find a stride. Bummed we’re about to leave.”
That, in itself, is some excellent news for the player and the team.
Efton Chism: The hype train for the undrafted rookie wide receiver is still running full steam ahead of training camp. He still has a long way to go once the pads come on, but if the season started today, it would be hard to keep him off the roster.
And if you think that spring practices are overrated, you may have a point. But when the Head coach and the quarterback speak, you listen. Vrabel’s comments caught some attention.
“I think he’s a talented player,” Vrabel said. “I think he has a certain skill set. He’s dedicated. He’s studied extremely hard. He has a good feel for what we’re asking him to do.
“I think the biggest thing for receivers is that there’s trust from the guy that throws the football. … It doesn’t take you long to figure out who the quarterback trusts. It’s the ones they target (with passes). That’s a good indicator.”
Maye said it felt like Chism caught about 50 passes during OTAs.
Patriots No Huddle Podcast: Derek, Mike, and I discussed the Patriots ‘minicamp and Derek’s roster projection. You can find our podcasts on YouTube, Apple, or Spotify. Please take a look and leave us a review.
Russ Francis/Chuck Fairbanks: The former Patriot tight end and head coach should be in the Patriots team Hall of Fame, and the fact that Francis isn’t is an absolute travesty. Francis and the Raiders’ Dave Casper changed how teams used the tight end position. This will be displayed in our Sunday posts until it happens. Casper is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Francis’ numbers stand up well against Casper’s, yet he isn’t even in the team’s HOF.
Patriots Post-Minicamp 53-man Roster Projection:
With the spring workouts concluded, perhaps it’s time for another roster projection. We discussed Derek Havens’ roster projection on our podcast earlier in the week, which I will post below. Derek’s, Mike D’Abate’s on SI, and mine are all very close in who we’re calling for the roster for now.
Once training camp begins, things can change, and injuries can occur either in practice or in preseason games.
Offense —
QB: (2) Joshua Dobbs, Drake Maye
RB: (4) Lan Larison, Brock Lampe, Rhamondre Stevenson, TreVeyon Henderson
TE: (3) CJ Dippre, Hunter Henry, Austin Hooper
WR: (6) Efton Chism III, Kayshon Boutte, Stefon Diggs, Demario Douglas, Mack Hollins, Kyle Williams
C: (2) Jared Wilson, Garrett Bradbury
G: (4) Sidy Sow, Layden Robinson, Mike Onwenu, Cole Strange
T: (4) Caedan Wallace, Marcus Bryant, Will Campbell, Morgan Moses
Defense —
DE: (2) Keion White, Milton Williams
DT: (3) Joshua Farmer, Khyiris Tonga, Christian Barmore
ILB: (4) Marte Mapu, Jack Gibbens, Christian Elliss, Robert Spillane
OLB: (4) K’Lavon Chaisson, Anfernee Jennings, Harold Landry, Bradyn Swinson
CB: (6) Marcus Jones, Isaiah Bolden, Marcellas Dial Jr., Alex Austin, Christian Gonzalez, Carlton Davis
SS/FS: (5) Kyle Dugger, Jaylinn Hawkins, Marcus Epps, Jabrill Peppers, Craig Woodson
Special Teams —
ST: (4) Andres Borregales, Bryce Baringer, Julian Ashby, Brenden Schooler
Total Players: 53
Created with PatsPicker at PatsFans.com
So, some of the differences we had began at Running Back. I left Antonio Gibson off the roster because I believe that TreVeyon Henderson is going to take the #2A back role, moving Gibson into a #2 B-type of role.
That would limit his snaps, and he may ask to be traded or released, where he can join a team that allows him to play more. That may change, however, as McDaniels tinkers with his players.
Derek and I had the same six WRs, Mike did too, but added a seventh in Kendrick Bourne. Derek and I had the same 10 offensive linemen; Mike carried only nine, cutting Layden Robinson off his roster.
On the defensive line, I kept my defensive line at five, while Derek and Mike kept theirs at six. I wanted Jeremiah Pharms, but he was my last cut. I decided to keep an extra cornerback. That may change.
Training camp is going to be exciting this year. I am really looking forward to seeing how Mike Vrabel puts together his team. The three of us may be very close in our projections …or way off.
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“Well, if you look at the majority of the red zone plays in this league that are passes, it’s usually, ‘One, two, see you later,’ right? Or it’s a sack. Maybe there were a few three-man rushes where, again, if we feel like those are instances where you can sit and progress, then you can.
“I know that there were maybe a couple of those. Again, I’m with you. I’m coaching them up to say, ‘Hey, we’ve got to go somewhere, we’ve got one, two,’ and that’s what these turn into in the red zone. If you watch every red zone snap in the league, that’s about what the majority of them do if you get past your first hitch.
“I think that will continue to progress when we get down there and just making sure that the timing is there. Sometimes it’s not, and then we’re going to have to be really good on both sides of the ball with the play extension, being where we need to be and then the defense executing what they have to do as well on those play extensions in the red zone..”
Patriots Head Coach Mike Vrabel, when asked, “How did you feel that the offense did with the red zone execution, and where would you like to see them improve today?”
“We’ll add a couple other people there. I think that just having somebody that’s dedicated, that’s been in that role, that can manage the people that we have here.
“He did a fantastic job in his interview process and meeting with all the different groups that we feel like he’s going to be able to work with. He played football. Not that that’s a prerequisite, but you have to have the ability to not only take these numbers and pull them out of wherever they pull them out of.
“I’m not going to pretend that I know, but also have some application to it and be able to explain it to the coaches and say, ‘How much is too much, probably need more.’
“However, we can make our jobs more efficient and better is something that I’m excited about. We’re all excited about him.”
Head coach Mike Vrabel, when asked, “I just wanted to ask about one specific part of it, which was the hiring of Ekene Olekanma from the 49ers. What do you envision in his role, and how do you hope he can help you?”
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“Somebody asked me what success looks like, and I said, ‘Yeah, you can judge it by wins and losses during the season, but success for me in the offseason is going to be that the players believe in what we’re doing, and they believe in the message, they believe in the teaching, and they believe in the connections that we’re making.’” — Mike Vrabel
Follow me on Twitter @SteveB7SFG or email me at [email protected]
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A former US Army Special Forces NCO and Officer, Steve has been following the Patriots since their days at Fenway Park. Steve has worked in the film industry and wrote as an Military Editor at SpecialOperations.com, 1945.com as a reporter for the Millbury Daily Voice, Millbury-Sutton Chronicle, and the Grafton News. He's also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA)
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There will be a few tricks to keep a few more players. An obvious being Polk whom could go onto IR with a return in-season option. Polk played hurt last year as a rookie. Don’t grade him day 1.
Diggs may be the same as Polk.
Chism may get cut/resigned to the practice squad if if if he has a man’s handshake to resign after the 53 man cut down day. Lan Larson, Dipre and or the fullback Lampe also could be the same as Chism.