Patriots Notes 08-02: Maye, Brown Begin To Shine

Good morning, and a happy Sunday to all. Here is your Patriots news for 08-02, along with this week’s NFL notes. First of all, a very Happy Birthday to Clare Cooper, who shares an August 1st birthday with yours truly.

The Patriots’ 2026 training camp is in full swing, and after a slow start for the first couple of days, Drake Maye heated up once the pads came on.

Maye, A.J. Brown, and Romeo Doubs put together two excellent days back-to-back, and their chemistry has begun to take hold. Maye had a hot hand on Friday, completing everything other than two throw-aways in competitive drills.

The play of the day on Friday was Maye’s throw in the end zone to Brown over Christian Gonzalez. Check out the video from the Patriots. Doubs also had a score over a leaping Gonzalez on a picture-perfect back shoulder throw by Maye.

But it wasn’t just to Brown and Doubs; Maye was expertly spreading the ball around to everyone. Kayshon Boutte continues his hot start of the summer.

Drake Maye — **(PHOTO: Eric Canha-Imagn Images)**

After practice, Maye stated that he likes to challenge Gonzalez and can feel his chemistry with Brown starting to take hold.

“I’m the type that wants to go over there and challenge him,” Maye said of Gonzalez. But as to his connectivity to Brown, it is just beginning to gel.

“I feel the connectivity building now,” Maye said. “That’s the biggest thing. You are just seeing it get better every day. I’m blessed to play with a player like him, and I’m looking forward to getting him the rock.

“You see with the ball in his hands what he can do. So just finding more chances. Intermediate, short, deep. Not shying away from it. I’m not gonna shy away from it. That’s how I play. I’m gonna keep going at it.”

The duo is in the very early stages of working together, but already, there are signs that this union could be special. “I’m trying to get a feel for what he is seeing,” Maye added. “It’s a great competition between him and Gonzo. My job is to get him the ball when he wants it and when he’s open. That’s what training camp is all about.”

Doubs had his strongest day as a Patriot, while Pop Douglas continues his solid summer and had a couple of nice touchdown catches in red zone work over Marcus Jones and Gonzalez.

Hunter Henry and Eli Raridon have been making plays as well, with the rookie tight end starting to really come on, with his speed and ability to make contested catches.

Raridon has already developed some nice chemistry with QB Tommy DeVito, who was asked about it after practice on Friday.

“Have you seen him?” DeVito said with a smile. “He’s a big target. He’s big and athletic. You’d want to throw to him too. His confidence is growing, and he’s trying to get as much information as he can.”

Saturday brought much of the same from Maye, completing highlight reel throws to Brown and Kayshon Boutte. One under-the-radar player to keep an eye on is LB Khalil Jacobs, who has been stacking some solid days together. He’s been getting more work with the top backups and has a chance to make the roster if he keeps developing. With the depth at linebacker an issue, the opportunity is there for him to carve out a roster spot.

**Patriots TE Tanner Arkin. (PHOTO: Eric Canha-Imagn Images)**

Quick Hitters For the Patriots and NFL News

Gabe Jacas: The Patriots’ rookie made his training camp debut and Patriots debut on Saturday, and it was a memorable one. Just coming off NFI, he’s only participating in individual drills.

But he absolutely bulldozed OLB coach Mike Smith to the ground. Smith was holding a blocking pad and got trucked by the rookie. Understandably, Jacas may have been a little too amped up, but that is the kind of play that the Patriots want to see out of the rookie.

Smith was all smiles after Jacas helped him to his feet; he apparently approves.

Annie’s Lemonade: The Patriots welcomed Annie’s Lemonade Stand to the practice fields at Gillette Stadium on Friday, and what made it special is that it is founded and run by a six-year-old.

Annie Christensen is raising money for the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Council; the Stoneham native and her mom were invited by Mike Vrabel to training camp, and the coach asked her to set up her lemonade stand for the Patriots’ players to enjoy after practice.

The head coach picked up the tab, donating to Team Annie’s Angels so the players, staff, and their families could enjoy bottomless refreshments.

This is Annie’s third year of running the lemonade stand, and according to her mom, Kathleen, it is becoming a go-to location in Stoneham … and Foxborough.

“When you think of a child’s lemonade stand, you might think a couple people in your neighborhood show up,” Kathleen said to Patriots.com.

“Maybe you make $50 if you’re lucky. Our first year we made over $1,000. Last year we hit over $2,000, and it looked like a block party on our front lawn. People couldn’t find parking – the police department and fire department came, her teachers from school came. We put flyers in our neighbor’s mailboxes and posted them on social media, and from there it was really organic.”

Cameron Dorner: While he remains a long shot to make the 53-man roster, the UDFA has been stringing together some solid work with rookie QB Behren Morton. He is at least making a case for himself to make it to the practice squad during the early days of camp.

It will be interesting to see if he can continue stacking plays…and days together once the preseason games begin. But don’t be surprised if we hear more of his name being called this summer.

NFI, PUP List: The Patriots begin the summer with four players, Brendan Schooler (NFI), RB Terrell Jennings (NFI), OLB Harold Landry III (PUP), and TE C.J. Dippre (PUP) on active NFI or PUP.

Roster Moves: The team released LB Otis Reese on Friday, July 31, during the second week of training camp. The 28-year-old linebacker originally entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Tennessee Titans in 2023.

Tanner Arkin: The big (6’4, 262) rookie tight end from Illinois wasn’t a big part of the spring workouts, because he’s not so much a receiver as he is a blocking tight end. And now that the pads are on, it is much easier to see where his strengths lie.

The Patriots signed Julian Hill for that role, but he tore an ACL in the spring and was lost for the year. That, however, opened up an opportunity for Arkin, and he’s making the most of it. While fellow rookie Eli Raridon has been doing well catching the ball in space, Arkin is handling the dirty work and, thus far, has been catching the eye as someone who could challenge for a roster spot.

Patriots No Huddle Podcast: Derek and I recorded a training camp episode earlier this week on the PatsFans.com website. Mike has been fighting some health issues lately, but we’ll all be back together on Tuesday afternoon. You can always check out our other podcasts on our YouTube channel.

Please check it out. And be sure to like, share, and leave us a review.

Russ Francis/Chuck Fairbanks: The former Patriots 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.

We will continue to display this 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.

Kayshon Boutte — **(PHOTO: Eric Canha-Imagn Images)**

Boutte Continues To Shine, But Trade Rumors Continue

The Patriots’ veteran wide receiver continues to stack highlight plays every day during training camp, as his chemistry with Drake Maye just keeps right on going.

However, after the additions of A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs this spring, Karen Guregian of MassLive.com reported that he requested a trade back in April. And for the first time in many years, the Patriots have a logjam of talent at wide receiver.

Trade rumors dogged Boutte last offseason, so it isn’t anything new for him. But the Patriots shouldn’t trade Boutte just to move on from him. If they can’t get decent compensation for him, it might just be best for the team and the player to play out the season and find a new home next spring.

Boutte won’t be a high-volume receiver with the Patriots, but he’s already been incredibly efficient, and with Brown on the field, that will only get better. Case in point, during the practice session where Maye and Boutte connected for a 40-yard bomb down the sideline, Boutte wasn’t facing Christian Gonzalez. He was locked up with Brown.

Boutte was going up against veteran Kindle Vildor. And Brown would definitely draw top coverage away from Boutte this season. The feeling here has been to keep Boutte, regardless of whether it stunts the second-year growth of Kyle Williams a bit. But a three-man group of Brown, Boutte, and Doubs on the field is a WR group that has the potential to be pretty explosive.

There are the incessant trade rumors with Boutte going to the Raiders, Chargers, Commanders, Panthers, and Chiefs among others.

If I were the Patriots, I’d be leery of trading Boutte to the Chargers or the Chiefs. Both are in the AFC and will be in the middle of trying to build a deep playoff run. And if those teams are truly interested, then the rumored 5th round draft pick compensation would have to be sweetened considerably. We’ll see how it plays out, but it is a very intriguing situation.

Mike Vrabel On Practicing: “I think it’s been a good start. We’ve gotten good red zone work. We’ve been able to do some third downs.

“Today will be essentially a ‘call it ’-there is no script, so the players won’t have what the play is or what the situation is, which we always like to do here, and give them an opportunity to go play, get into a little bit of rhythm, get into a little bit of conditioning, create a drive.

“If it’s a three-and-out, I’ll just make it first down. Just bear with me. Players will probably start to [say], ‘Oh, that was a sack,’ and, ‘Now why is it not third-and-15? Why is it third-and-7?’ So, we just do all those things, and I think they understand that that’s really good for the football team. So, I’m excited to do that today.”

Vrabel also talked about rookie Gabe Jacas, who has been burning up Vrabel’s phone line about itching to practice.

“He loves football. He’s been itching to get back. He texts me all the time. He texts me late at night, ‘Hey, am I going to practice tomorrow?’” Vrabel said.

“I’m like, ‘No, just like I told you at 6:30 last night or tonight that you’re not going to practice tomorrow. You don’t have to text me at 10:00 and ask again. The answer is still no, not yet.’

“You want that. You want guys that are looking for ways in as opposed to looking for ways out. I think he just wants to get out there, get acclimated and be with his teammates. That is all he wants to do. He just wants to play football.”

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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

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About Steve Balestrieri

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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