MORSE: Notes & Analysis of Patriots Training Camp

Some notes and analysis following Saturday’s New England Patriots Practice #15:

Attendance:

Absent: Christian Gonzalez, Christian Barmore, Kobe Prentice, Eric Butler, Chad Muma, Niko Lalos, Xavier Holmes, Andrew Rupcich, Ben Brown, Kyle Dixon

PUP/NFI: Harold Landry, Brenden Schooler

Returned: CB Carlton Davis, CB Charles Woods (non-contact Red Jersey), LS Julian Ashby

Reserve C/G Ben Brown will be out for multiple weeks, extending through the preseason, according to Mike Vrabel. – Mike Reiss

Practice Notes:

Play of the day

Drake Maye back shoulder 40-yard deep ball to Kayshon Boutte to set up a Doubs TD.

Passing

Drake Maye 10/16 in 11s, 2/5 in 7s

Tommy DeVito 5/12 in 11s, 4/4 in 7s

Behren Morton 2/3 in 7s

Player Notes/Reports:

Carlton Davis let up five TDs in his return to team drills – Really strong day for Romeo Doubs with three TDs – Doug Kyed

Andy Borregales bounces back, making 6 of 6 kicks in practice on the narrow goalposts – Mike Reiss

Those goalposts look like the ones used in Arena Football.

Drake Maye 10/16, 2 sacks on low red-zone day with a 2-minute drill.

Romeo Doubs led a dominant day for WRs.

“Sacks”: Ponder, Woodson, Taylor . – Andrew Callahan

Patriots OLB Dre’Mont Jones departed practice with a member of the training staff. Spent time in the medical shed first with head trainer Jim Whalen. – Brian Hines

Romeo Doubs had three impressive high-point touchdown catches (7’s, two-minute, 11’s) reaching over the DBs.

Gabe Jacas, Tanner Arkin and KJ Britt saw first-team reps today. – Andrew Quindon

Romeo Doubs just Moss’d Charles Woods. High-pointed a goal-line fade over Woods in the back of the end zone. One of the catches of camp. One of three jump ball TDs on the day for Doubs – Evan Lazar

Bryce Baringer was working on Kickoffs today. – Theo Diesenhaus

Karon Prunty and Kindle Vildor with Pass Breakups today. -Andrew Quindon and Theo Diesenhaus

Brandon Crossley had good coverage but Kyle Williams makes a good adjustment on the ball and secures the touchdown. – Andrew Quindon

Gabe Jacas has a would be run stuff on Rhamondre Stevenson in the first play of 11’s – Theo Diesenhaus

Good day for the Patriots O-Line in 1-on-1s.

– Campbell was 2-0 vs. Jones, Jacas

– Lomu was 3-0 vs. Ponder, Jacas, Swinson

– Bryant was 3-0 vs. Luketa, Ponder, Jacas

Looked like the pass rushers were emphasizing power/bull rushes today. So that might’ve contributed to it. – Evan Lazar

Mike Vrabel Press Conference

On if he has any more clarity on Ben Brown’s injury:

“Ben’s going to be a few weeks. Okay. 4 to 6, 8, 10, 12, even numbers. But it’ll probably be extensive throughout the rest of the preseason for sure.”

View Full Transcript

Leftovers From Pre-Season Game #1 vs Colts

Kayshon Boutte played minimal snaps in the game and was not targeted once! To me that doesn’t sound like the team was showcasing him for a potential trade partner to see. I think his spot on the team is safe unless another team makes an outrageous offer. The Maye / Boutte connection is too strong, as evident by Today’s Play of Day a 40-yard bomb.

UDFA Center Jacob Rizy filled in very nicely for the injured Ben Brown. Did you hear his name called out at any time during the broadcast? He did his job! No bad snaps, no missed blocks, best of all no pressure on the QB. He had a clean sheet, no pressures, no QB hits and no sacks. Rizy played slightly more than three quarters of the game, more than any player on the roster.

Penalties killed the Patriots all night. An Ineligible Man Downfield call against Caleb Lomu should not have been called. By rule he was across the 1-yard threshold from the line of scrimmage. However, he was engaged with the defender blocking him inside and down the line. It was a really good block and a ticky-tac penalty that wiped out a nice 24-yard reception by Eli Raridon. On the very next play was a block in the back by Efton Chism. He put his hand down to brace himself and it wasn’t a block of any kind. The player was already going down. It was minimal, if at all. That wiped out a 15-yard screen pass to Lan Larison. To Tommy DeVito’s credit he came right back and hit Mack Hollins across the middle to pick up the 1^st down.

Speaking of Penalties a crucial correct call, of hands to the face on Isaiah Iton kept the Colts drive alive in the 4^th Quarter. With 2:29 left in the game and the Colts facing third and 6 from the 50, the Defense stopped them short of the 1^st down, only to have the penalty extend the drive and eventually lead to the game tying Field Goal.

Safety Mike Brown was the Personal Protector for Bryce Baringer’s punts. This usually indicates a player that will make the team. On defense, Brown was on the field with the Third Defense unit, so it’s not a lock he will be the 5^th Safety. Brown finished the game with 5 Tackles.

UDFA Channing Canada led the team with 8 Tackles while playing primarily in the slot. He also received the opening Kickoff. Canada signed a UDFA contract with a large guarantee of $267,500, which is equivalent to a full season on the Practice Squad. He has a chance of making the team as a backup slot corner. Canada had a very nice open field tackle in the game Thursday night. It was a WR screen and Canada came up and stuck him in place for a slight loss.

Longsnapper Niko Lalos took all the longsnaps in the game with Julian Ashby out. Regular Longsnapper Julian Ashby was out with an injury. Not to make excuses for Borregales but sometimes when there is a change in operations (snap / hold), that can throw off a Kicker. I thought at least one of his misses was due to a high snap.

Karon Prunty looked very good as a gunner covering punts. He will make a good combination with Brenden Schooler covering punts.

Gabe Jacas had 3 Tackles on Special Teams

Comings and Goings

The Patriots announced the following transactions. Joe Michalski C Oklahoma State 6’3.4”, 307-pounds was signed. He played 6 years for the Cowboys and was a two-time Captain. 5X Academic All Big-12. Michalski played in 58 games with 35 Starts. Signed by Denver as an UDFA in 25 he spent all of 25 on the Practice Squad. After the season he was waived and not signed to a Futures Cotract. Strong player that did 28 reps at #225 at his Pro Day.

Darrian Dalcourt OG/C He was mostly a backup Center at Alabama with 20 starts in 40 games. He stands 6’3”, 310-pounds. After not being selected in the 2024 NFL draft, Dalcourt decided to sign with the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent. He was waived on August 27, 2024, and re-signed to the practice squad. Dalcourt signed a reserve/future contract with Baltimore on January 21, 2025. He was waived by the Ravens on August 27. On September 2, 2025, Dalcourt was signed to the Washington Commanders’ practice squad. He was released by the Commanders with an injury settlement on September 17. On October 7, 2025, Dalcourt signed with the Carolina Panthers’ practice squad. On December 9, 2025, Dalcourt signed with the Cleveland Browns’ practice squad.

This is what NFL Draft Buzz had to say about Dalcourt:

When his hand placement is right, Dalcourt has the strong grip that allows him to manhandle opponents. Dalcourt plays with a mean streak and keeps the nastiness going through the whistle.
An agile mover who puts his length to good use, using his hands aggressively and landing solid initial punches. He can move to the second level as a run blocker, with the coordination and balance to hit moving targets.
He may not be a top-end mauler, but he has some unique traits in the run game and could probably transition to a guard spot if necessary.
Awareness is above-average for his limited experience. Sells trap block and can turn to seal. Fluid getting to and adjust at the second level.

Both players practiced today.

The corresponding moves were to waive LS Niko Lalos and place OG Andrew Rupcich on IR. It appears that Rupcich was injured more than what was apparent. This was very unfortunate as Rupcich is an experienced backup that could cover two positions (G/C). Combine this with the report that Ben Brown could be out well into the regular season (up to 12 weeks) as reported by Mike Vrabel at his Press Conference today. I think the Patriots have to wait until cut-down day to announce players that will be put on recallable IR.

Top five PFF graded players

LB K.J. Britt – 96.8
CB Kenneth Harris – 86.1
CB Brandon Crossley – 80.1
EDGE Bradyn Swinson – 79.0
CB Kindle Vildor – 77.1

Bottom five PFF graded players

LB Chad Muma – 27.9
DT Eric Gregory – 30.1
DT Isaiah Iton – 34.1
CB Eric Butler – 35.9
DT Joshua Farmer – 45.6

Caleb Lomu had a 60.5 Pass Blocking Grade and a 60.6 Run Blocking Grade

Jacob Rizy had an outstanding 72.1 Pass Blocking Grade but his Run Blocking Grade was in the low 40s.

The Britt versus Muma battle may have flipped with Britt’s outstanding performance and the dismal results by Muma.

Devon Witherspoon Signs with Seattle

The significance is that it sets the bar for Gonzalez. The deal is 4 years for $132M with $101M guaranteed. I would expect a deal for Gonzalez to be completed soon at slightly higher than $33M Annual Average Value (AAV) per season with the same guaranteed money. There was also an increase of over $30M in new salary money paid out over the next two years.

That may be an issue with the Patriots, as they have never done that before and don’t want to set that precedent with the Drake Maye contract coming up next year. They seem to prefer to do a contract extension with new Signing Bonus money rather than a rewrite of the contract. Robert Kraft stated they had offered the most for any DB, but that was at $31.1M AAV. Will he go $33.1 AAV or higher? Perhaps a higher AAV at $35M with no change to the next two year.

Like this article?
Support Mark and buy him a coffee.

About Mark Morse

Merrimack Valley native and lifelong fan of the New England Patriots. My earliest memories of the Patriots were attending as a child with my dad, the off-season practice at Phillips Academy. I was at the Patriots game at Harvard Stadium in 1970 where Bob “Harpo” Gladieux was called out of the stands by the stadium announcer over the PA to play in the game. Analyzing the draft since ESPN first started to televise it in 1980 and former writer for the Lowell Sun Newspaper.

View all posts by Mark Morse