The New England Patriots welcomed the Indianapolis Colts to Gillette Stadium on Tuesday for what turned out to be a productive and competitive joint practice.
Here’s what went down on the practice fields.
Attendance
Absent: CB Christian Gonzalez (new), S Mike Brown (new), WR Kyle Dixon
Limited: CB Carlton Davis, DL Christian Barmore, CB Charles Woods, LS Julian Ashby, OT Morgan Moses
PUP/NFI: ED Harold Landry III, S Brenden Schooler
Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez was a surprise absence for joint practice
on Tuesday. Gonzalez remains in the middle of contract negotiations, but did appear to take a hard fall on Monday in coverage against Romeo Doubs.
Several players then remained limited, which included Christian Barmore after he missed the last two practices.
“Just still trying to get him back knowing that we have some time, and it’s a long season,” Mike Vrabel said prior to practice. “He’s played a lot of football, and he’s played a lot of football for us. He was disruptive for us. We just have to make sure that we are smart about what we are doing right now.“
Takeaways
Drake’s day: It was an overall strong day for Drake Maye and the Patriots starting offense, as the quarterback seemed to largely work in clean pockets and found explosive plays through the air to A.J. Brown (hole shot), Romeo Doubs (downfield fade) and both of his tight ends, Hunter Henry and Eli Raridon.
Unfortunately for Maye, his day ended with a sour note in his final end-of-game drive. After quickly moving the ball downfield with two completions to DeMario Douglas, a scramble, and quick out to Efton Chism, Maye moved off his spot and under threw a seam shot to Douglas which was intercepted by Colts safety Cam Bynum in the end zone.
“I thought we did some good things and I think we got to finish off better,” Maye said. “That’s speaking on my part in the two-minute drill. But, I really think it’s we challenge our guys to be try to be consistent throughout the day and I think they responded to that.”
Defensive struggles: Daniel Jones and the Colts offense meanwhile found success in their end-of-half drive, connecting with tight end Tyler Warren three times to move down to the five-yard line. With two seconds left on the clock, Jones got the ball out before the Patriots all-out pressure got home and found Josh Downs open against Marcus Jones along the goal line for a touchdown.
Jones and the Colts moved the ball fairly well the rest of the afternoon against a secondary that was down Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis, while Jonathan Taylor and their run game largely had the advantage.
1-on-1 highlights: Practice started with a bang, as the first 1-on-1 rep with both teams on the field saw A.J. Brown align opposite Colts cornerback Sauce Gardner. Advantage Brown, as the receiver nearly put Gardner on the ground on a comeback route to draw a loud reaction from the crowd.
Other standouts included:
- DeMario Douglas going up to high point a seam route over Justin Walley and survive the ground.
- Efton Chism III easily separating from Robert Carter Jr. downfield and hauling in a full-extension diving catch.
- Kyle Williams also creating easy separation off the line of scrimmage on multiple reps.
Tommy 2 Chains: Patriots backup quarterback Tommy DeVito continues to string together positive practices, and he turned in another one against the Colts. DeVito started early by connecting on a deep post touchdown to Kyle Williams, who split a pair of Colts defenders for their second long ball connection in as many days. DeVito was also sharp working the underneath and effective finding his tight ends in the red zone hitting Eli Raridon and Hunter Henry for scores.
In his end-of-game drive, DeVito needed just one play as he found Mack Hollins deep down the right sideline for a score. Getting another play inside the five, he then connected with Raridon for another touchdown.
“2 Chains is doing a nice job,” Vrabel said. “He continues to learn, and with it being a new system, I think it got his attention a little bit better, as opposed to saying, “Hey, I know what this is,” and kind of taking it for granted. I think he’s really done a nice job.“
Other notes:
- A.J. Brown (3 catches on 5 targets), Romeo Doubs (2 catches on 2 targets), and DeMario Douglas (3 catches on 4 targets) continued to be the top three receivers working with Maye. Brown struggled with footing on numerous occasions and while Doubs created separation on his touchdown receptions in the red zone, the receiver seemed to struggle to get away from Indianapolis’ corners for most of the day.
- Efton Chism III (3 catches on 3 targets) continued to work in with both of the top offense. Kyle Williams (1 catch on 2 targets) was targeted downfield by Maye but was tangled up by the cornerback. Kayshon Boutte (1 catch on 4 targets) connected just once with Maye.
- Rhamondre Stevenson had an impressive touchdown connection with Maye on a downfield corner route with the QB fading away.
- Busy day for rookie Eli Raridon with four catches in 11-on-11 work — including one play-action crosser from Maye.
- New England’s top offensive line remained the same and seemed to hold up well in pass protection while the run game work seemed hit-or-miss.
- Caleb Lomu was back at left tackle with the second unit while mixing in at right tackle for a limited Morgan Moses.
- Most of the Patriots’ defensive pressure appeared to come up the middle courtesy of Milton Williams and Cory Durden. Primarily working with the second-team, rookie Gabe Jacas did pop in the backfield on one instance. Elijah Ponder also drew a hold and batted down a screen.
- With no Gonzalez or Davis, New England opened with Kindle Vildor and Kobee Minor in their secondary before Karon Prunty replaced Minor, who drew a DPI, in the end-of-game period. The secondary largely struggled — specifically in red zone 7-on-7s until Marcellas Dial recorded a pass breakup.
- New England’s second string defense ended practice on a high note as John Saunders Jr. recorded an interception off of Riley Leonard in a one-minute drive. Safety Peter Manuma was in coverage.
- Andy Borregales went 5-of-7 in live field goal work with both misses coming from 50 yards.
- Top punt block team: Reggie Gilliam, Namdi Obiazor, Terrell Jennings, Chad Muma, Elijah Ponder, Khalil Jacobs, and Dell Pettus (personal protector).
- Top kick return pairings: Terrell Jennings/Kyle Williams and Lan Larison/Efton Chism.
- One dust up during the day following a live kick return that ended near a sideline. Dre’Mont Jones and Quintayvious Hutchins appeared to be nearby while Colts DE Durrell Nchami lost his helmet and appeared to throw a punch.
- Ahead of Thursday’s preseason game the Patriots will hold a closed walkthrough on Wednesday.
