Patriots training camp notebook: Rookies in the spotlight on Day 3
Rookies were making headlines on Day 3 of Patriots training camp.
On Friday, the New England Patriots wrapped up their first block of training camp practices for 2024 with their third practice of the summer. It was the longest practice of the summer so far stretching two hours.
With an off day ahead on Saturday, the Patriots players brought the intensity to close out the stretch strong. Once again, most of the practice was spent in competitive team drills, although players still weren’t in pads.
Throughout the day, it was members of the Patriots’ 2024 rookie class in the spotlight. There were highlight plays from both quarterbacks and wide receivers, and more changes on the offensive line.
Let’s get into all of that and more in today’s practice recap…
Quarterback reps
Once again, the Patriots changed the distribution of quarterback reps. For the earlier part of team drill periods they worked on split fields, with Jacoby Brissett and Drake Maye on one side while Bailey Zappe and Joe Milton repped on the other. This extended split allowed all four quarterbacks to have more opportunities.
For the final few periods of practice, the whole team came together on one field. For most of those periods it was Brissett or Maye leading the offense. For the second day in a row though, Milton got the third-team reps while Zappe didn’t rep in team during this time.
Drake Maye’s roller coaster day
We talked about Drake Maye’s first two days being ‘highs and lows’ but Friday was more peaks and valleys. His best throw of camp came early on. Fellow rookie Ja’Lynn Polk had just half a step on cornerback Azizi Hearn on a deep post. Maye was still able to drop in the bucket about 40 yards down field, just before safety Jaylinn Hawkins closed coming over the top. Maye also put the ball in a spot where Polk could start to protect himself. However, in a game Polk still may have taken a big hit.
That wasn’t Maye’s only ‘plus’ pass. One of his first of the day was a touch pass over the middle, where he layered a throw over a linebacker to hit Hunter Henry in stride in 11s. That throw had just the right amount of zip.
Later in practice, Maye tried to hit running back Rhamondre Stevenson in the flat on a checkdown. Maye missed the read though, and Matthew Judon jumped the route for an interception and a would-be pick six. After practice, Maye called the throw a “rookie mistake.” He had a couple of other misfires early in practice, but nothing overly consequential. He finished the day 17-of-23.
Joe Milton airs it out
With Maye’s ups and downs, the best quarterback of the day may have been fellow rookie Joe Milton. Milton delivered his best throw of camp so far, on the move twisting away from a closing pass rush to send a ball over 60 yards to Javon Baker down the field. Baker deserves a ton of credit for the play too, adjusting and climbing the ladder for a catch through contact over rookie Marcellas Dial.
Milton continued his strong showing during his lone 11-on-11 period during single field work, making multiple precise underneath throws. Early on, he’s making the most of his increased reps.
WATCH: Zolak & Barth react to Day 3 of Patriots training camp
Schooler getting comfortable on defense?
In yesterday’s notebook, we highlighted the fact that Brenden Schooler – who has exclusively been a special teamer through is first two seasons in New England – has been playing more at safety early on in training camp. That continued on Friday, mostly with the second and third units.
Schooler made a play on the ball on Friday, and nearly had his first interception. He undercut a flat route by La’Michael Pettway, and nearly intercepted a pass from Bailey Zappe. It ended up just being a pass breakup, but got a big reaction from his defensive teammates.
Part of the reason Schooler may be playing more on defense is that Marte Mapu has been limited through two days, leaving the Patriots a safety short. Schooler is making the most of his opportunities though, and it will be interesting to see what happens to his reps when Mapu returns to action.
Tackle testing continues
It’s now been three practices for the Patriots, with different tackle combinations on the offensive line every day. Friday saw the Patriots go with multiple alignments, some of which included Chuks Okorafor playing on the right side for the first time this summer, and rookie Caedan Wallace getting his first reps at left tackle.
There was also a period were neither were with the top offensive unit. Calvin Anderson and Vederian Lowe rotated in as they had earlier this week, with Tyrone Wheatley Jr. and UDFA Zuri Henry also getting a few chances.
Coming out of the first block of Patriots training camp practices, things are hardly settled at the tackle position. With so much uncertainty it’s understandable the Patriots would want to experiment with different groups, but at some point they’re going to have to pick one group of five to work together for more than one practice and start building chemistry.
Clear leader for third running back job
Heading into camp, we highlighted the battle for the third running back job as a sneaky-important battle in this camp. Through three days there’s been a clear leader, with Kevin Harris getting most of the reps behind Rhamondre Stevenson (projected second running back Antonio Gibson still hasn’t practiced after opening camp on NFI).
Not only has Harris gotten the majority of those reps, but he still has plenty to look ahead to. As a 5-foot-10, 225-pound bowling ball running back, his time to shine is still ahead, when the pads come on.
Lockdown coverage
We covered most of the defensive standouts from Friday when talking about the quarterbacks, but let’s also add strong performances from a couple of cornerbacks. We’ll start with Christian Gonzalez, who wasn’t giving any wide receivers any room anywhere on Friday. The few times he was tested with throws he was step-for-step with receivers, highlighted by one rep where he completely took away a passing window on a slot fade from Ja’Lynn Polk. After getting picked on a bit underneath yesterday, Gonzalez wasn’t having any of that on Friday.
Alex Austin had a solid day too. He broke up a pass on one of the first plays of the day intended for JuJu Smith-Schuster, and was tight in coverage the rest of the day.
First special teams work
It wasn’t until the final period of Day 3 that we got our first live special teams drill of camp. It was field goals, with Chad Ryland and Joey Slye each getting four kicks from between 30 and 40 yards.
Ryland went a perfect 4-for-4, with all four makes coming relatively down the middle. Slye went 3-for-4, pulling a 40-yarder wide right by a few feet.
There will be plenty more field goal periods this summer. But early on in the kicker battle, it’s advantage Ryland.
Attendance
Christian Barmore and Marte Mapu were limited again. Both players didn’t take the field until after stretching, and while in uniform didn’t participate in team drills. Cornerback Shaun Wade was present for all of practice, but was wearing a red non-contact jersey for the first time this summer. Rookie cornerback Kaleb Ford-Dement was the lone absence.
What’s next?
The Patriots are off on Saturday, their first off-day of camp. They’ll return to the fields Sunday at 11:00, for what is expected to be their final practice before pads come on on Monday.
