Patriots training camp turns three weeks old on Wednesday. It’s important to note that improvement for a team that’s 8-26 over its past 34 games ain’t hard.
But …
WHO’S OUR BIG BOY!!??? WHO’S OUR BIG BOY SNEAKING UP ON MEDIOCRITY AFTER FIVE BLECCHHH AND MEH SEASONS??? THAT’S RIGHT!!! IT’S THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS!!!
We aren’t breaking out the sheet cake after one well-run joint practice and a 30-point preseason win — especially since the Patriots may get their collective ass handed to them by the Vikings this week — but the signs of life are impossible to miss.
Offensively, post-snap chaos doesn’t ensue almost immediately. The quarterback is — hiccups notwithstanding (and we’ll get to them) — better than he was in January. There’s an easily identifiable, physical play-style. And while they are very much a work in progress, there’s no “wait till next year!” vibe. The coaching staff isn’t urgent. They feel impatient about being good ASAFP.
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This is a big week for Mike Vrabel’s team. Minnesota was a 14-win team last season. They scored 432 points. They create chaos defensively under Brian Flores’ scheme. And while Justin Jefferson may not be out there to test the New England secondary (hasn’t practiced in camp with a hamstring), they have a host of offensive talent to throw at the Patriots. Both head coaches have circled this as the key week in camp, with two days of joint practices before Saturday’s game.
Interestingly, the Patriots had a walk-through for most of Monday’s session. Then, with about 20 minutes left in the session, Vrabel called the whole team up for a talk. They then broke into a fairly competitive (but not full-contact) session with the starters going against each other for 15 plays.
The offense scuffled against a defense that showed a lot of different looks and pressures. At one point, when the play clock expired, Vrabel chastised the offense pointing at the clocks in each end zone saying, in essence, “They’re right there!!! How can you miss them!!!???”
After a feel-good week against the Commanders, Vrabel and his coaching staff are shoving this team into the next stage of intensity. It will be fascinating to see how they respond because I’m expecting Vrabel to raise the bar of expectations even more.
To whet the appetite before the joint practices, here are six things that have surprised me during camp:
Kyle Dugger getting leapfrogged?
After an injury-plagued and ineffective 2024, I expected Dugger to hit the ground running this summer. He has not. He’s a big-ticket player after getting a four-year, $58 million contract last year, but it’s hard to recall any standout moments in three weeks of work.
On Sunday and Monday, he worked more with the second team than the starters and 27-year-old Jaylinn Hawkins seems to be challenging for the spot opposite Jabrill Peppers at the back end of the Pats secondary.
Javon Baker redemption
The second-year wideout seemed like the eighth man in a nine-man room coming into camp. He was that ineffective as a rookie and if he didn’t shape up, he was likely shipping out. He’s been a different player.
Aside from the special teams work against the Commanders which drew raves from Vrabel, he has had several high-point catches over DBs. He’s not running with the starters, but he’s mixing in enough to show his work’s not going unnoticed.
Javon Baker talks relationship with Mike Vrabel and getting time with special teams vs. the Commanders.
Drake Maye’s ball security
Contrarian opinion: He’s been really friggin’ good at taking care of the ball. Aside from the first drive of the first preseason game, which EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS IS A STUPID TIME TO MAKE AN UNFORCED ERROR TRYING TO MAKE SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING, let’s roll through his other giveaways:
None for a week of practice. Two in the intrasquad scrimmage. The first ricocheted off Stefon Diggs (not a great throw, but not heinous) and then a practice-ending pick to Alex Austin that just could NOT be thrown. Then a tipped-ball pick in the Commanders joint practice and another on Sunday on what seemed to be a miscommunication.
So, am I saying that, aside from the fumble to start a game and the pick to end a “game,” he’s been pretty good taking care of the ball? Yes. Better. Approaching good.
Cue the three-pick practice this week in Minny to make me eat my words.
The greening of the offense
During that 15-play end-of-practice session, the defense ran a pressure and Maye looked to unload quickly in the left flat to TreVeyon Henderson. Henderson was still scooting upfield and the ball skipped a few yards behind him.
The rookie running back, second-year quarterback, rookie left tackle (Will Campbell) and rookie left guard (Jared Wilson) are getting reps they deserve, but this kind of thing is going to happen a LOT until they get to a point where they’re seeing the same thing in a league that’s going to do all it can to confuse them.
Kickoff return is a scoring weapon
We all saw what Henderson did to open the preseason, but there were 13 kickoff returns of 35 yards or more in the first week of preseason. In addition to Henderson’s 100-yarder, there was the 62-yarder from Antonio Gibson.
Thanks to the “dynamic kickoff” rule change, 32.8 percent of kickoffs were returned in 2024, up from 21.8 percent in 2023. With the ball coming out to the 35-yard line on touchbacks this year (up 5 yards from last year), there’s bound to be even more returns this season.
The Patriots using Henderson and Gibson –– two backs from a kind of small running back room — on kickoffs shows they are counting on generating points there. And all it takes is a seam.
Stefon Diggs’ arc
The Patriots are understandably managing the reps of Diggs, their de facto No. 1 receiver. He’s had moments where he looks smooth and fast and it’s clear Maye likes throwing his way. But he had a drop on the goal line during Sunday’s practice and the drop that led to the Maye pick in the intrasquad scrimmage. I also found this quote from Patriots wide receivers coach Todd Downing interesting.
“The process for him is gonna have to be learning this system and learning exactly what the quarterback and what Josh are looking for, and making sure that he is in the right spot at the right time,” Downing said on Monday. “As he continues to refine that, I think he’ll continue on the trajectory we expect him to be on.”
That’s not, “He’s fine, he’s a pro, we all know what Stef can do.” That quote smacks of urgency, and it probably wouldn’t have been uttered if Diggs was always in the right spot at the right time and fully refined in his work right now.
There’s a learning curve, no doubt. But it’s clear that this staff is not given to tiptoeing around what it’s seeing and what it expects to see.
