The New England Patriots took the practice fields in Minnesota on Wednesday for the first of two joint practices with the Vikings. The two-hour session featured plenty of good work and competition, especially for Drake Maye and Co. against old friend Brian Flores and his defense.
Here is what went down on the practice fields at the TC Performance Center.
Setting
Attire: Full pads
Duration: ca. 120 minutes (1 p.m.-3:00 p.m. ET)
Conditions: Sunny, temperatures in the 80s
It was a sunny day out in Minnesota for
the fully padded joint practice. As head coach Mike Vrabel shared prior to the session, the focus was on second-and-long situations following some 1-on-1 work across both rosters.
“Play second-and-long, which for us would be a get-back-on-track. We’re trying to get back half the yardage to get in third-and-manageable and then play out whatever third down scenario comes of that,” Vrabel explained.
“That’ll be a great opportunity for us to see if they blitz, if they play zone and what we need to do on both sides of the ball to try to keep them in third-and-long. Then offensively, we’ve got to try to get some yards back to help our third down offense. So, that’ll be something that probably will look a little different — 2nd-and-10 and then it’ll go to 3rd-and-2 or it’ll go to 3rd-and-10.”
Attendance
Not participating: CB Christian Gonzalez, WR Ja’Lynn Polk, LB Marte Mapu, RB Terrell Jennings, CB D.J. James, RB Rhamondre Stevenson, LB Jahlani Tavai, WR Kendrick Bourne, TE Hunter Henry
Limited: DT Christian Barmore
The usual suspects sat out of New England’s first joint practice, although Mike Vrabel did leave the door open for Hunter Henry to return to the field on Thursday. The veteran tight end joined the likes of Christian Gonzalez, Marte Mapu, D.J. James, and Rhamondre Stevenson as rehabbing players in attendance working off to the side early in the day.
Christian Barmore did not partake in team drills as part of the team’s continued plan for his return from blood clots, while cornerback Carlton Davis briefly traded the field for an exercise bike before being back in action for full team work.
Takeaways
Under pressure: It was no secret New England’s offensive line was going to get tested by Brian Flores and the Vikings front. Early on, Minnesota found success getting after Drake Maye recording what appeared to be five to six would-be sacks in full-team work. That included Jonathan Greenard giving rookie Will Campbell some trouble along the left side — beating the tackle once to the inside — while Dallas Turner also blew by Campbell untouched for a “sack”.
Things did start settle down up front which led to completions for Maye, who impressed with his ability to deal with the Vikings’ pressure. Maye had a long touchdown to Mack Hollins on a coverage bust and a pair of completions to DeMario Douglas. The QB’s best throw of the day came off platform, rolling to his right as he found Kayshon Boutte downfield — but pressure against Garrett Bradbury and Morgan Moses may also have resulted in a sack beforehand.
While it was an expected up-and-down performance from the top unit, it was promising to see a handful of chunk plays made overall.
Hurry-up finish: Two-minute situations have been a challenge for New England’s top offense this summer. That changed with 1:15 on the clock needing a field goal against Minnesota: Maye needed just two plays, including hitting running back TreVeyon Henderson on a wheel route out of the backfield for a 70-yard touchdown down the left sideline.
“They didn’t account for him and I was just trying to give it to him — an easy ball to let him catch and run,” Maye said after practice. “It’s hard to catch him when he’s in the open field.”
Running the drive back with 31 seconds remaining, things did not go as smoothly for the unit. Maye was sacked (in addition to the Patriots getting flagged for offensive holding) on second down before missing Boutte low out wide. The second-year QB then lofted an incompletion toward Mack Hollins on fourth down for a turnover on downs.
QB2 issues: Similar to the joint practice against Washington last week, Joshua Dobbs was the only other Patriots quarterback to receive snaps on Wednesday. The former Viking had his share of struggles.
Dobbs threw a pair of interceptions. The first saw a Vikings cornerback undercut an out-route to Mack Hollins along the left sideline. The second came over the middle of the field to end his two-minute drive; on that particular play, he threw into an apparent robber buzzing down to cut off an open Efton Chism III.
Speaking of Chism, good plays for the second offensive unit primarily came when the ball went to the undrafted wide receiver. Chism hauled in three receptions from Dobbs and drew a DPI penalty along the sideline. Beyond doing his usual strong work in 1-on-1s, Chism was also open downfield off a trick play working with Maye, but the quarterback overshot him.
Diggs’ return: Wide receiver Stefon Diggs made his return to the Vikings practice field and immediately left his mark. The veteran opened practice creating easy separation in 1-on-1s which he capped off with a strong late hands catch down the right sideline against Minnesota top cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. Diggs was then a full participant in team drills and caught three balls from Maye, the best coming off a fake screen which left room for him to operate over the middle of the field.
In addition to Diggs, DeMario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte consistently worked as the top three wide receivers with Mack Hollins rotating in as well. Kyle Williams also saw time with Maye and found separation downfield on numerous occasions but could not get the football.
Javon Baker, meanwhile, had a strong downfield catch from Dobbs’ in 7-on-7 but a drop in full team work at the end of practice.
Defensive report: It was a more consistent effort on the adjacent field for New England’s top defense, who heated up fellow sophomore quarterback J.J. McCarthy for much of the afternoon. That push was led by Harold Landry off the edge and Milton Williams up the middle.
Minnesota did find a chunk play or two of their own — including a well set-up screen to running back Aaron Jones — while their most consistent source of a passing attack came through tight end T.J. Hockenson. After New England struggled with Zach Ertz in last week’s joint practice against the Commanders, that trend could be one worth watching.
Other notes: In addition to his work as a pass catcher, TreVeyon Henderson had impressive moments in pass protection as well. … The top offensive line remained the usual: Will Campbell, Jared Wilson, Garrett Bradbury, Mike Onwenu, and Morgan Moses. … Mike Onwenu also gave up a sack in full team work. … The second unit consisted of Vederian Lowe, Caedan Wallace, Ben Brown, Cole Strange, and Marcus Bryant. … Bryant gave up an early sack to Gabriel Murphy while Sidy Sow eventually replaced Strange at right guard. … Marcus Jones intercepted J.J. McCarthy in 7-on-7s. … Jabrill Peppers had a strong pass breakup deep downfield in full team work. … Safety Kyle Dugger continued to work with the second team and was flagged for defensive pass interference. … Javon Baker took a Viking to the ground in 1-on-1 special team work as he continues to see time as a gunner. … Andy Borregales handled all the kicking and made 5-of-6 attempts. His miss came from 54 yards out. … Referee Carl Cheffers and his crew were on hand.
Preview
The Patriots will be back in Eagan, MN, for their second and final joint practice with the Vikings on Thursday. According to Mike Vrabel, work is expected to move into the red area. Practice will begin at 1 p.m. ET with Vrabel set to address the media beforehand.
