FOXBOROUGH – The buzz in and around Foxborough on Wednesday morning felt like a big time regular season game.
By 7:30 a.m., Jalen Hurts jerseys were all over the Dunkin Donuts next to Mick Morgan’s on the highway. By 9:00 a.m., the line waiting for gates to open was absurdly long. Within about 20 minutes of fans being allowed into practice, the bleachers were jam-packed and the overflow ramps – all three levels – were full with fans standing shoulder-to-shoulder.
Over the next two hours, Philly and New England ended up getting some solid work in, with only one skirmish throughout the entire session. Oddly enough, that one minor fight came on the first live field goal rep of the day for Andy Borregales (kick was good, but a false start negated it). Mike Vrabel sprinted into the middle of it for the second straight season and things quickly dissipated before anything really major could take place.
This was more about two top-notch, high level organizations trying to gauge where they’re at during this point in the summer against a fellow Super Bowl contender.
It’s tough to watch both the offensive and defensive side of the ball with action taking place on each field, so as far as ‘reports’ go, this one is going to be pretty much all Patriots offense centric.
With that, here’s everything I saw over the course of practice…
1-v-1’s (All throws from Maye)
-AJ Brown drops a dime from Drake Maye on the very first rep against Quinton Mitchell.
-Pop burns Cooper DeJean (first of three times) for a grab over the middle.
-Overthrow to Efton Chism III.
-Crosser to Mack Hollins (wide open).
-Kobe Prentice separates and snatches a ball from Mitchell Carter.
-Maye fumbles the snap, Riq Woolen makes a PBU over the middle against Romeo Doubs,
-Pop torches DeJean again.
-Kayshon Boutte gets locked up by his defender over the middle.
-Incompletion to Hunter Henry up the seam (high).
-C.J. Dipree burns his defender over the middle for an easy grab.
-Deep TD ball (dime) right sideline for Nick DeGennaro vs. Ambry Thomas.
-Out to Henry vs. Marcus Epps.
-OPI against Doubs on a sideline comeback.
-Eli Raridon beats his defender over the middle for easy grab. (Continues to shine throughout camp).
-Comeback to Kyle Williams.
-Crosser and great grab by Jack Westover.
-Crosser for Cam Dorner.
-Slant to Chism III (wide open).
-Bomb TD to Mack Hollins down the left sideline vs. Ambry Thomas.
-Crosser to Doubs.
Team period
Drake Maye: Run for Rhamondre Stevenson (tackling wasn’t technically live or all the way to the ground)…sideline completion to Pop Douglas (who continues to be Mr. Consistency)…scramble for Maye, short run by TreVeyon Henderson.
Tommy DeVito: Handoff to Henderson, out to Hunter Henry, run by Hassan Haskins (fumble but recovered), little underneath throw to Henderson.
Maye: Three handoffs to Stevenson and a crosser to Brown.
DeVito: Incompletion to Jack Westover (he absolutely tossed his defender getting off the LOS though)…(I missed the next snap)…Lan Larison run goes nowhere, comeback to Kyle Williams but false start negates it.
7-on-7
Maye: Completion to Brown as he sits down in the middle of the D, slant to Brown, incompletion to Doubs on a comeback (Doubs fell down)…Henry drops a ball on a crosser underneath (footsteps?)…diving catch by Brown over the middle in tight coverage, sick jump ball grab by Kayshon Boutte along the sideline (Moss’d his defender a bit).
DeVito: Completion to Eli Raridon in the deep-ish middle part of the field (he continues to get better every day and is turning into a reliable pass-catching weapon)…incompletion to Doubs (ball was way behind)…crosser to Chism III (throw was a dart)…out to Mack Hollins, crosser to Chism III.
Behren Morton: Short completion underneath to Haskins, short pass to Tejhaun Palmer, dump off to Jam Miller.
Team period
Maye: Swing to Stevenson, slant to Doubs, back-to-back would-be sacks by Jeremiah Pharms Jr. and Christian Barmore…sideline completion to Chism III and another fantastic grab by Boutte (jumping toe-tap on the right sideline for about 10-15 yards).
DeVito: Run Larison, comeback to Williams, interception for Philly’s Andre’ Sam on a ball that went through Boutte’s hands over the middle, dart over the middle to Hollins and a dump off to Larison.
Team period
Maye: Short pass to Stevenson, no gain on a run by Stevenson, slant to Brown, short gain for Stevenson, dime down the right sideline for Brown (ridiculous throw by Maye off his back foot facing a blitzer)…nice run & cut for Henderson, short run for Haskins, deep-ish jump ball for Doubs down the left sideline, slant to Brown (had to reach behind him and pluck it, another sick grab).
DeVito: Hand off to Miller, short pass to Hollins, run Larison, shifty little run by Miller, incompletion on a roll out, dart to Boutte, short run JaMycal Hasty, short run Haskins, incompletion to Chism III (good pocket movement though).
Field goals
Technically, Borregales was 4-5, but he had two drinks – one went in and one bounced out – and the miss was from just 40-yards. As mentioned in the beginning, the first kick was where the one and only mini scrum happened, it lasted maybe 30-45 seconds tops. The Borregales thing is starting to get worrisome.
Team period (Situational, 1:05 on the clock)
Maye: Doubs drops a ball in the soft part of Philly’s defense, crosser to Pop, PBU by a linebacker on Stevenson along the left sideline, crosser to Hollins, incompletion over the middle (throw was to no one, clear miscommunication)…scramble (Maye gets out of bounds), encroachment on the defense, out to Henry, field goal team rushes on and gets the snap away with one second left, Borregales hits a 52-yarder.
Philly’s two-minute drill was a disaster, with the Pats D getting several sacks and John Saunders Jr. picking off Jalen Hurts. The Eagles never even got into field goal range.
Next up
The Pats and Eagles will work primarily in the red zone on Thursday in the second joint practice. This is the final training camp practice open to fans this summer, with gates once again opening at 9:15 a.m. Practice begins at 10:15.
