One day after making arguably their biggest move of the offseason, the New England Patriots took to the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium for their second open organized team activity.
As mentioned before, those sessions need to be taken with a grain of salt given their learning-based nature and general lack of physicality. Nonetheless, they still give us a snapshot of the depth chart and potential contributors heading toward training camp. To recap Tuesday’s session, please check out our Patriots
OTA Notebook.
Meanwhile, here is who caught our eye for better or worse.
Standouts of the day
Slot receivers: DeMario Douglas entered the offseason facing questions about his future. While he had performed well in 2025 when given the opportunity, those opportunities were hard to come by for him and he. ended the year playing only 27% of offensive snaps. Based on his performance in open practices so far, however, he might be in line for a bigger role this coming season.
On Tuesday, for a second straight session, Douglas was the Patriots’ top pass catcher. He finished with four receptions from Drake Maye, including a deep pass. He also showcased his shiftiness by shaking cornerback Brandon Crossley out of his boots on one particular rep.
Douglas was not the only interior receiver to make positive plays. Like him, second-year man Efton Chism III finished with four receptions in team drill. Granted, all of those came from backup QB Tommy DeVito, he also saw his fair share of first-team reps on the day (all while also seeing some time as a punt returner).
Other performances of note
WR A.J. Brown: Obviously, A.J. Brown has to be on this list. His performance as a whole was not particularly noteworthy — he only participated in positional and a handful of full-team drills — but all eyes were on him after arriving via trade on Monday. Before the session, Mike Vrabel said that the goal was to get the 28-year-old acclimated to the Patriots’ practice routine and insert him into the offense as much as possible. That was precisely what happened.
Backup tight ends: With Julian Hill placed on injured reserve after recently suffering a season-ending injury in practice, the Patriots need to find a new No. 2 tight end. On Tuesday, the choice was Jack Westover who has plenty of blocking experience from his time as a fullback last season. Westover caught only one pass in team drills, but his usage nonetheless caught our eye. The same was true for the other backup TEs, third-round rookie Eli Raridon and sophomore C.J. Dippre: the former hauled in a pair of passes but also looked a bit shaky catching the ball in traffic, while the latter let a ball hit the ground as well.
DT Leonard Taylor III: Mike Vrabel spoke highly about the Patriots’ interior defensive line depth after his team lost starting nose tackle Khyiris Tonga in free agency, and one of the players competing for an increased role was a standout performer on Tuesday. Leonard Taylor, who last year went from Jets castoff to Patriots AFC Championship hero, finished with two tipped passes at the line of scrimmage. Obviously, OTAs are not suited to assess line play — there is no live contact — but Taylor seems to be taking advantage of his opportunity.
CB Kobee Minor: Speaking of opportunity, the Patriots were without all three of their starting cornerbacks on Tuesday. One of the players stepping up to the task was the final selection in last year’s draft, Kobee Minor. The second-year man effectively replaced Marcus Jones in the slot and showed some good anticipation breaking up (and nearly picking off) a Drake Maye pass intended for Romeo Doubs. Minor has now been heavily featured in two straight open practices.
S Mike Brown: A.J. was not the only Brown worth talking about from Tuesday’s session. Mike, who also spent some time in Tennessee with Mike Vrabel and was brought aboard this offseason, continues to rep as the third safety behind starters Kevin Byard and Craig Woodson. Like the aforementioned Kobee Minor, he managed to break up a Drake Maye pass attempt and continues to see quality reps in practice.
The Patriots are scheduled to return to the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium on Thursday for their sixth organized team activity this spring. The session will take place behind closed doors, with the next one open to the media coming on Tuesday, June 9, when the team kicks off its three-day mandatory minicamp.
