Socci’s View: After a challenging first day in pads, Pats’ new coach and young QB are back at it

Halfway through Monday’s practice, Patriots running back Terrell Jennings charged up the middle with all the intensity of an undrafted rookie determined to leave an impression on his coaches and the defensive backs standing in his way. 

Breaking through the line, Jennings barreled into fellow college free agent Dell Pettus, a safety, before taking on Azizi Hearn, a 2023 practice-squad cornerback. Each collision projected an audible ‘pop,’ felt as much as it was heard.

It was the kind of run that typically stamps the first day of padded practice every summer, when ‘real football’ begins. But on Monday, the blows administered by Jennings, along with every other hit from one-on-ones to 11-on-11s, were in no way the most severe to start the second week of training camp.

Not even close. The biggest, in fact, had been delivered the day before. 

That’s when we learned that defensive lineman Christian Barmore, one of the team’s most gifted young players, was diagnosed with blood clots. A statement released by the Patriots early Sunday evening revealed that Barmore was treated by doctors at Mass General Brigham.

When head coach Jerod Mayo showed up to his morning session with the media before Monday’s practice, naturally, Barmore was top of mind. 

Mayo echoed Christian’s agent, Nicole Lynn, who had praised longtime Patriots head athletic trainer Jim Whelan "for his absolute diligence and care" in a social media post. He also recognized physical therapist Chris Dolan for his role in recognizing Barmore's symptoms. 

What he couldn’t do was offer a timetable for Barmore to possibly return.

"It's not even about football," Mayo said. "When you talk about things like that, it's about the man."

No question, obviously and undeniably. 

And yet, when it comes to football, Barmore's absence for the foreseeable future leaves a massive void in the Patriots' defensive interior. He's an explosive athlete, at 6-5, 315 pounds, only 25 (Sunday was his birthday) and, as the Pats showed us by giving him a four-year, $84 million contract in April (per Over The Cap), is valued as a foundational block of their rebuild. 

Unfortunately, the hard knocks of Mayo's first training camp as a head coach kept occurring over the next two hours. 

Safety Jabrill Peppers, a leader in the secondary who just got a new contract of his own, left practice due to an apparent injury to a lower left extremity. Much later, linebacker Josh Uche, it seems, was ordered to leave practice following a set-to with offensive tackle Chuks Okorafor.

While presumptive starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett enjoyed his finest practice of camp, despite the absence of center David Andrews, backup Drake Maye endured his toughest outing. Not that we should be surprised. Maye's experiencing the growing pains expected of a 21-year-old kid drafted on potential, more than polish.  

His struggles to read the field and deliver throws accurately weren’t the only problems the offense faced. A spate of procedural errors earned the unit a handful of individual penalty laps and, eventually, a group run. 

And, burying the lede of most post-practice coverage, Monday included sideshows featuring Matthew Judon in separate, animated conversations with Mayo and front office executives Eliot Wolf and Matt Groh. 

Above it all, varying shades of gray clouds dropped a few raindrops for a short time. For some, as you may have heard or read – and maybe you agree – all of it Monday may be enough to feel like the sky is already falling, five practices into camp and more than a week away from the preseason opener vs. Carolina.

There’s no denying, concerns and questions hover over this team, after a 4-13 finish to a third losing season in four years. Especially on offense and, as brought to light in recent days, most definitely at the defensive spots occupied by two vets unhappy with their contracts, Judon and Davon Godchaux. 

Hearing them speak their displeasure to the press and seeing one of them continue to demonstrate it before media and fans alike aren’t what we’re used to around here. The sooner their situations are resolved the better. Obviously and undeniably.

As for the offense, Monday revealed some silver linings. Rookie receiver Javon Baker looked good, again. The new-look running game functioned well. Antonio Gibson flashed a skillset to be the movable, third-down back the Pats have been looking for since James White retired. And Brissett demonstrated exactly what will be needed – a steady if unspectacular hand to allow for the development of Maye.

While the Judon and Godchaux situations appear to be early flashpoints Mayo and Wolf have to manage in the immediate future -- like, right now -- it's the last four words of the previous graph that will ultimately be the referendum on their tenure together: the development of Maye.

His predecessor as a first-round quarterback, Mac Jones, reported to his first camp with a higher floor, coming out of Alabama's offense, earned the starter's job and had early success. But Jones also had a lower ceiling, which caved in under the circumstances of the past two seasons.

Maye arrived at this camp bigger, stronger, more athletic, with a more powerful arm and, as advertised, a lower floor and higher ceiling. Comparing where he is to where Jones was one week into their rookie camps is reductive.

What's true in both cases, as with every young quarterback, is that their NFL fate is determined by a combination of what's in and out of their control. The latter include coaching and scheme, the surrounding cast and health. The former entails aptitude and attitude.

After the Pats made him their top choice in April’s draft, Mayo raved about Maye’s competitive nature. He was at it again on Monday afternoon, appearing on SiriusXM NFL Radio “Moving The Chains.”

“This guy is ultra, ultra competitive,” Mayo said to the show’s co-hosts Pat Kirwan and Jim Miller. “That was one of the traits that I was like, ‘Man, this guy, he’s going to be good.’ He’s always here, all day, and he’s getting better.”

After a challenging first day in pads, the young quarterback gets back at it today. Just like the new head coach. They're in this together.

Bob Socci enters his 12th season calling play-by-play for the Patriots Radio Network on 98.5 The Sports Hub.