7 Players that stood out on day 2 of Patriots training camp
The New England Patriots held their second open practice of 2024 training camp on Thursday at the Gillette Stadium practice fields. Here are seven players that stood out.
FOXBORO — The Patriots are ramping things up relatively slowly to start training camp for the 2024 season, making it a challenge to evaluate how well the offense and defense are executing.
Full pads are not expected to go on until next Monday, July 29, so we’re set to cover at least four practices that are lighter in nature. The Patriots appear to still be in something of a teaching period as they begin their preparations for the 2024 season, as team drills haven’t always been as competitive as they get in fully-padded sessions.
However, the Pats did run 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 sessions, utilizing all four quarterbacks, so there were some noteworthy players to highlight from those. Here are seven players that stood out on the practice field, for either good or bad reasons…
WR Tyquan Thornton
Thornton has an important summer ahead of him. The Patriots just drafted two new wide receivers in the off-season, and also signed veteran K.J. Osborn, while JuJu Smith-Schuster remains on the roster. Thornton is going to need to pick up the new offense and make plays, urgently, in order to stick around.
For one day, Thornton can feel good about his status. He caught five passes in team drills, four from projected starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett and one from rookie Drake Maye. Only one of those catches came in 11-on-11, but it was a solid grab around 15 yards over the middle of the field against dynamic sophomore cornerback Christian Gonzalez.
Thornton did have one bad moment, as he appeared to have a miscommunication with Maye on a pass attempt in 11’s. Thornton stopped running, but Maye threw it as if Thornton was going to streak up the right sideline. But when it comes to assigning fault for this miscue, I’m erring on the side of the rookie over the third-year player.
Overall, it was a good, productive day for Thornton, who may still need to stack these days together and build momentum in order to secure a roster spot.
QB Joe Milton III
A rookie sixth-round pick out of Tennessee, Milton remains a long shot to actually play for the Patriots any time soon. But he stood out on Thursday because he appeared to leapfrog third-year QB Bailey Zappe in the pecking order for reps in team drills. Milton went 4-of-6 in team drills overall, 2-of-3 each in 11-on-11 and 7-on-7.
MORE: 10 Players that stood out on day 1 of New England Patriots training camp
Milton made two solid passes to rookie wideout Javon Baker in 7-on-7, and had completions to Kayshon Boutte and rookie tight end Jaheim Bell in 11-on-11. His two incompletions appeared to be fastballs with a little too much zip on them, which is unsurprising for Milton and his rocket arm. But it was a positive development for him to see the work he did get in full-team sessions.
WR Javon Baker
Baker made three total catches in team drills, two from Milton and one from Maye. His grab from Maye was a tough play to make, as the throw was shaded a little toward his left shoulder while he was stopped, but he adjusted well and made a bit of an arm-catch.
MORE: Jerod Mayo sets the stakes for recent Patriots draft picks
Baker also stood out after practice, because he got some extra work in with Maye while most of the team had left the field. Baker is a roster lock as a fourth-round rookie, but he’s certainly putting in the work of a guy who aims to play a lot out of the gate.
OT Vederian Lowe
Lowe stood out in a bad way on Wednesday. He got an opportunity to play some right tackle, and it didn’t go well. He allowed pressure on three straight plays in 11-on-11, resulting in two incompletions and one play where Brissett couldn’t even get a throw off.
Lowe got back in at right tackle later in the team periods, but he seems very unlikely to gain traction as a potential starter on the O-line.
CB Marcus Jones
Jones made the best defensive play of the day, early on in 11-on-11 against Brissett and the projected starting offense. Jones broke up a pass intended for rookie wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk about 15-20 yards down the right sideline, competing all the way to the end of the rep and disrupting Polk’s last-second chance to reel in the pass.
The third-year corner also got in some work as a punt returner, which isn’t surprising. His physical abilities and versatility have almost gone unnoticed since his promising rookie year, especially since he was only healthy for two games in 2023. Thursday was a sign that he may be ready to start making plays again, in more than one phase of the game.
S Jabrill Peppers
If Marcus Jones made the best defensive play of the day, Peppers could be credited with the second-best. Peppers leaped back and got a hand on a ball intended for Hunter Henry from Brissett in a 7-on-7 drill. Tight end coverage will be something to watch for with the Patriots’ safety group. Good sign for Peppers.
DT Daniel Ekuale
Matthew Judon also generated pressure on the play that Ekuale got through during 11-on-11, but it was promising to see Ekuale make a play on a day in which Davon Godchaux was absent from practice. He’s been a sneaky-solid contributor in his three seasons as a Patriot, and has a real opportunity to stick around for a fourth.
We’ll continue to have full coverage of the New England Patriots at 2024 training camp in the coming days here at 985TheSportsHub.com.
Matt Dolloff is a writer and digital content producer who covers the New England Patriots for 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read all of his articles here.
