FOXBOROUGH, Mass – Drake Maye is on fire.
The 2025 MVP runner-up has dominated in his last two practices, missing only one pass on Thursday and going a perfect 11-for-11 on Friday. The offense is starting to connect a lot more and is giving the defense a real run for their money since the pads have come on.
Here are the takeaways from Day 6 of training camp:
1. A.J. Brown and Drake Maye connection heats up
There were some concerns in the early days of training camp after Maye and A.J. Brown did not appear to be on the same page. But, once the pads came on, everything changed.
During Friday's practice, the two connected four times, making them 8-of-9 over the past two days.
“I’m just trying to build a relationship with me and him," Maye said after practice. "I think you’re just seeing it get better
every day. And I think that’s the best thing about training camp, is what you use it for. I’m blessed to play with a player like him and looking forward to giving the rock and see him do his thing.”
One of the highlights from Friday came when Brown beat star cornerback Christian Gonzalez to catch a nice pass from Maye in his first throw of the 11-on-11 period where he beat him on a double move. His other three catches came against Charles Woods twice and Craig Woodson once.
2. Caleb Lomu struggles, Mike Onwenu dominates during 1-on-1s
After a solid start for Lomu in 1-on-1s during Thursday's practice, in which he won both of his reps, the rookie tackle struggled, going 2-2, losing to Elijah Ponder and Bradyn Swinson, while beating Swinson at another point as well as winning against Amari Gainer. As for Mike Onwenu, he put on a dominating performance, winning all three of his reps, with two against Cory Durden and one against Milton Williams.
As for how the rest of the offensive line fared alongside Onwenu's strong performance, starting left tackle Will Campbell went 3-0, defeating Dre'Mont Jones, Jesse Luketa, and Xavier Holmes. Left guard Alijah Vera-Tucker won two of his reps against Milton Williams and Leonard Taylor III, but lost one to Williams. Then, there's center Jared Wilson, who went 3-0. Lastly, Morgan Moses did not take part in these drills.
3. Eli Raridon continues to grow
Raridon is stepping up in recent days and is truly starting to make an impact during the team periods, getting runs with both the first and second offense. Raridon finished the practice with four receptions, including one from Maye during the 7-on-7 period over Craig Woodson. He added another three from Tommy Devito in the 11-on-11 session.
“Have you seen him? That’s a big target. I bet you’d want to throw to him, too,” DeVito said. “He’s big, he’s athletic, his confidence is growing."
4. Andy Borregales continues solid start
Working between 30 and 50 yards, Andy Borregales continued his impressive rookie season and solid start to trainnig camp, connecting five of his six attempts on Friday.
5. Quarterback stats
7v7s
Drake Maye: 7-for-8
Tommy DeVito: 3-for-4
Behren Morton: 2-for-4
11v11s
Drake Maye: 11-for-11
Tommy DeVito: 7-for-12
Behren Morton: 2-for-4
6. Attendance
ABSENT: DT Christian Barmore, CB Carlton Davis
PUP: TE CJ Dippre, LB Harold Landry
NFI: RB Terrell Jennings, EDGE Gabe Jacas, S Brenden Schooler
RETURNED: CB Brandon Crossley
LIMITED: Morgan Moses and Alijah Vera-Tucker (veteran rest)
7. Other notes
- Kicker Returners: Kyle Williams, Lan Larison, Efton Chism III, Jam Miller, Kobe Prentice, Cameron Dorner, Myles Montgomery, and Channing Canada, TreVeyon Henderson, Nick DeGennaro, Romeo Doubs, DeMario Douglas
- Mehki Butler spent the day with the second-team offensive line, appearing to be the top backup left guard over Caedan Wallace.
- Andrew Rupcich and Ben Brown alternated between center and one of the guard spots. Brown also took over for Vera-Tucker at one point during the team drills.
- UDFA Cameron Dorner is emerging as Behren Morton's favorite target, hauling in three catches from the rookie quarterback.
- DeMario Douglas had an impressive catch over Gonzalez, finishing the day by catching four passes from Maye.
What's next?
The Patriots will be back on the field on Saturday, August 1, for the seventh training camp session and third-straight padded practice. Mike Vrabel will speak with reporters at 9:30 a.m., followed by practice and then player press conferences.
Follow Patriots Wire on Twitter and Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: 7 takeaways from Day 6 of Patriots training camp
