Tuesday Patriots Notebook 8/5: Player Carted Off, First Sign Of A Surprise Cut Coming?
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Some Patriots news and notes on this Tuesday:
1) The Patriots got back to work on Monday after having both Saturday and Sunday off following Friday night’s in-stadium practice, and they still have some work to do before they square off against Washington for their joint practice Wednesday.
The club practiced in full pads, with the emphasis being placed on red zone work during one of two team practices ahead of when the Commanders come in this week.
Quarterback Drake Maye is apparently still working out the kinks coming off a tough finish Friday night. He started off strong but had some difficult moments down the stretch to begin the week. However, Maye did throw several touchdowns, with Demario Douglas, Hunter Henry, and rookie TreVeyon Henderson each among players coming up with key grabs in the end zone. Kayshon Boutte also made a nice play late to punch in another score as the club practiced executing New England’s two-minute offense.
While it wasn’t perfect, Maye talked recently about the fact that mistakes are going to happen, but this is also the time to both make them and learn from them.
“I think just keep going,” said Maye when asked about his progression so far in camp last week. “I think just keep working, keep building chemistry. There’s throws that I wish I had back. Missed some touchdowns, you know, two practices ago in the red zone. There’s what you’re out here for.”
Vrabel was asked on Monday about Maye’s late interception on Friday night that spoiled a potential scoring opportunity in the closing minutes after Alex Austin pulled out the turnover to ice the session. But what was interesting was the fact Vrabel said that play was one he was happy to see happen, given that it gave his player and the team a learning moment to take from it.
“If the corner is flat-footed, we probably need to throw it over his head and live the fight another day,” said Vrabel. “Credit to Double A [Alex Austin]. And I like, sometimes, when these things come up because now we can coach the quarterbacks to say, ‘Hey, if the guy’s not bailing, if he’s just sitting there standing flat-footed and you go over there, it’s a yes, no. You’re going to have to just decide that you can’t progress back and come over here to the field, you’re going to get sacked or strip-sacked. So throw it over his head.’ Being able to catch that ball, Double A, and end it, and then explain to him, go down, go down, go down. We have the lead. These are all great things that come up and allow us to coach.”
2) There was apparently a scary moment on Monday when Patriots defensive coordinator Terrell Williams was forced to leave practice on a cart late after Matt Geagan of WBZ News reported the coach collapsed during the session, which is certainly concerning given his history.
The New England coach was reportedly tended to by EMTs prior to his departure, but Williams fortunately, didn’t require further medical attention. He reportedly did get up under his own power prior to heading inside the stadium.
Reports later indicated that Williams was simply suffering from dehydration, and that the club was just taking ‘precautions’ given his previous health issue.
It’s been a long offseason for Williams, who missed most of the spring due to an apparent “health scare” that saw him conduct a lot of his early player meetings over Zoom before hitting the field at the start of training camp.
Coming off that experience, Williams had previously said a few months ago that in the past he had “ignored doctors” and had come to the realization that he needed to be more of aware of taking care of himself. He also added, “that’s what I’m doing.”
Monday was hopefully a reminder that it remains something that needs to be a focus, primarily for his own good. Anyone who has followed this team going back to the last couple of decades likely recalls that 2001 preseason and the tragedy that happened with former Patriots quarterbacks coach Dick Rehbein, who passed away suddenly back in August of 2001 at the age of just 45 years old.
That’s something in Patriots history that no one wants to see repeat itself. So the hope now is that Williams continues getting himself healthy and closer to where he needs to be.
3) Veteran receiver Mack Hollins is slowly working his way back into things after starting off camp on PUP. But one mention by Vrabel Monday stood out. He noted how well Hollins did at learning the offense despite being sidelined, which, as a former player, Vrabel noted isn’t exactly an easy thing.
“Spent a lot of time here in the offseason, locked in, engaged,” said Vrabel. “Rare for a player to be able to get that much information and not practice. That’s hard. That’s hard just even thinking back when I was in those opportunities to be able to do that, and still understand the details and not practicing it. So locked in, ready to go, excited to see him get out there and practice.”
Hollins was part of the starting group Monday but finished practice without a reception after being targeted twice.
4) Things continue to play out at several key positions, with one notable thing happening at practice on Monday that was surprising.
Rookie Craig Woodson got some reps ahead of Kyle Dugger, which certainly isn’t a good sign at this point in training camp. However, Dugger has continued to struggle at times in coverage and the contract he signed last offseason has him in a tough spot. Despite battling an injury last year, the hope was that we’d see improvement with that behind him, and that hasn’t been the case to this point.
Greg Bedard of the Boston Sports Journal believes Dugger’s time in New England may be coming to an end, and what happened Monday might be a sign of that coming to fruition.
With a new coaching staff, he’s likely being viewed differently, and the fact he hasn’t flashed to this point of the preseason is obviously a problem.
Instead, his salary and his play to this point of camp is starting to look like he could be among guys in the crosshairs among possible surprise moves that are likely coming, especially if Woodson makes the most of those extra reps.
The Patriots may have taken their first serious hit of the preseason, with second-year defensive back Marcellus Dial being carted off Monday with what Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald reports is a potentially serious injury. He reportedly suffered the injury during one of the team drills and was down on the ground in serious pain before trainers came out and examined his left knee. That’s disappointing for Dial, who had seemingly made terrific progress during the offseason and had been having a great camp. … After suffering a foot injury friday night, Kendrick Bourne was not out there Monday and Vrabel old reporters, “Just got rolled up and he won’t be out here,” said Vrabel. “I wouldn’t anticipate him this week, so he’ll be working hard to get back, just like everybody else, it’s not going to be out there.” … Vrabel said the same about cornerbacks Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis, with Davis showing up but was still a non-participant. “I wouldn’t expect them here at practice today, and probably not against Washington on Wednesday,” he said. … Both kickers were perfect gain on Monday, with both Andres Borregales and John Parker-Romo each hitting all four of their attempts. It’s shaping up to be an interesting battle and with several weeks still left, it should be fun to see who blinks first. … Caedan Wallace suffered an injury Friday night and wasn’t out there Monday. With Wallace out and Garrett Bradbury back at practice, Ben Brown, who seemed to be in the hunt for the back-up center spot, got some reps at left guard. That gave Cole Strange some more work at center. Strange is another player who seems to be fighting for a spot this preseason. … Keion White was back at practice after leaving last week. That’s good news, as he’s certainly among their better pass rushers and had been having a pretty good camp prior to getting hurt. … Despite having a “clean slate,” Vrabel emphasized that when it comes to ball security and Rhamondre Stevenson losing a fumble Friday night, protecting the ball needs to be a priority. “Rhamondre, when you make a great cut and you break through, know that every team in the league, and hopefully ours is one of those teams, that the guys are coming to the ball and they’re going to come and hammer it,” said Vrabel. “They’re going to play full tilt to the tackle.” … Still, when asked about his fumbles last season, Vrabel again mentioned that guys not doing their job and letting defenders break through too soon is something that also can’t happen. “One person is going to have the ball in their hand every play offensively, and the rest of those 10 players are going to be responsible for protecting the guy with the ball,” explained Vrabel. “And so, there were some instances where he put it on the ground, and there were some instances where the second guy came in. And we need to eliminate the second guy from coming in by the way that we play and our play demeanor, and the way that we finish.”
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Dugger’s 2025 salary is fully guaranteed. They might try to trade him, but I can’t see him getting cut.