10 Players that stood out in the Patriots’ joint practice with the Eagles
The long-awaited Patriots Eagles joint practice finally took place on Tuesday in Foxboro. Here are 10 Patriots players that stood out on the field, for various reasons.
FOXBORO — Tuesday’s Patriots-Eagles joint practice had one clear winner. It was not the home team.
Though it was at least a competitive effort for the Patriots defense in team drills against the Eagles’ talented offensive weapons, the Patriots offense had a much harder time against the Philadelphia defense, especially their pass-rush. The offensive issues will take up the bulk of the “standouts” in Tuesday’s joint practice.
Here are 10 New England players that stuck out to us, for both good and/or bad reasons…
QB Drake Maye
Maye described his own practice on Tuesday as a series of ups and downs. That would be fairly accurate. But the concerning part is that the majority of the down moments came in 11-on-11 drills.
Let’s start with the good part. Maye was 6-of-6 in a strong 7-on-7 session, completing passes to six different receivers, as compiled by Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald. He also connected with rookie wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk (more on him below) for a touchdown in a 1-on-1 red zone period. It’s clear that Maye has high-end arm talent and can make plays when it’s as simple as dropping back and throwing.
However, it got significantly more harrowing for the No. 3 overall pick once he had to play behind the Patriots’ No. 2 offensive line. Pressure was a consistent problem, especially off the edge, and it clearly sped Maye up. He finished 5-of-12 overall, with four pass attempts clearly coming with pressure.
In his final 2-minute drill, Maye went 0-of-2 throwing, and scrambled out of the pocket on his other two reps. He’s certainly shown an ability to escape pressure at times, but he hasn’t consistently shown an ability to still make off-script throws in those situations. Perhaps we’ll see him attempt more down the field in Thursday night’s preseason game.
Maye still has a lot of work to do as far as working in a full-team situation, from the huddle to post-snap reads and execution. He’s shown signs of gradual progress over the past two weeks and has rarely repeated mistakes, but it’s clear why the Patriots are being patient with him and sticking with Jacoby Brissett as the starter for now.
WR DeMario Douglas
“Pop” Douglas has been uncoverable when facing his own teammates. He continued to get open early and often when finally going against another team’s secondary.
Douglas caught 3-of-4 targets in 11-on-11, the lone incompletion being off the mark from Brissett against pressure on left tackle Vederian Lowe. He also shined in 1-on-1, consistently matching up with first-round cornerback Quinyon Mitchell – and dusting him.
If the Patriots’ quarterbacks can get time to throw, they’re going to have a legit playmaker in Douglas, considering how often he’s gotten separation down the field.
WR Ja’Lynn Polk
Polk made one of the best catches of the day to haul in a touchdown from Maye in the aforementioned 1-on-1 drill against Eagles cornerback Shon Stephens (video above). He also made a nice grab over the middle of the field after getting separation at the top of his route against Stephens. His hands and route-running are solidly NFL-caliber.
He also caught 2-of-3 targets in 11-on-11, but the lone incompletion was on him, as he got stalled by the Eagles’ Tyler Hall in coverage before he could get to the throw. An up-and-down day overall for the rookie, but he’s shown plenty of promise in camp.
WR Jalen Reagor
Reagor made the best catch of an otherwise ugly 11-on-11 day for the Patriots, leaping over Eagles corner Kelee Ringo for a long catch from Brissett down the right sideline. He also showed out well as a returner. Reagor has been hit-or-miss on offense, but his versatility and raw speed could end up landing him on the initial 53-man roster.
TE Austin Hooper
With Hunter Henry out for the second straight practice, Hooper had to step up as the team’s clear No. 1 option at tight end. He ended up catching the Pats’ only touchdown of 11-on-11 and caught 7-of-10 total targets. Brissett overthrew him on two of the incomplete passes. Honorable mention goes to Mitchell Wilcox, who was the second tight end with the starting offense behind Hooper.
OT Vederian Lowe
Lowe stood out in a bad way on Tuesday. He allowed two individual pressures and also appeared to commit a false start in 11-on-11 drills. He shouldn’t necessarily be singled out; this section can be a thumbs down for all the Patriots’ top-4 tackles, as Chukwuma Okorafor, Calvin Anderson, and Caedan Wallace didn’t have good days, either. But Lowe as the starting left tackle feels like the single biggest weak spot on the entire team, at the moment. The Patriots may want to reconsider.
OG Sidy Sow
Sow, the projected starting left guard, had his share of good and bad moments. The bad was a pressure allowed to defensive tackle Jalen Carter on the first dropback of the day in 11-on-11. However, he did open a couple of good holes in the running game for Rhamondre Stevenson. The interior of the Patriots offensive line is less of a concern than the tackle spots, and Sow looks like he can at least be a serviceable starter. He won’t have to go against a player of Carter’s caliber on every play.
LB Matthew Judon
Judon made his presence felt on Tuesday, as he was central to the Patriots’ pressure up front on Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts. He’s been highly engaged in practices ever since his blow-up two weeks ago. If he plays like this in the regular season, there’s still hope for the Pats to have a good pass-rush, even without Christian Barmore.
S Kyle Dugger
Dugger combined with Jaylinn Hawkins for a physical pass breakup against Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert during a late 2-minute drill. He also allowed a deep completion to Eagles wideout DeVonta Smith in 7-on-7. Dugger won’t be covering wide receivers terribly often, we imagine. It’s how he performs against backs and tight ends that will matter more.
CB Christian Gonzalez
Gonzalez was mostly matched up against Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown, a tall task for any cornerback. He won two of his three 1-on-1 reps against Brown, but allowed a touchdown on a quick slant in a red zone drill. Gonzalez later broke up a pass attempt toward Brown in 7-on-7. He’s played better of late after a shaky start to training camp. It was encouraging to see him hold his own against one of the best receivers in the league.
Matt Dolloff is a writer and digital content producer for 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read all of his articles here.
Alex Barth of 985TheSportsHub.com contributed to this report.
