FOXBORO — It took close to a week, but the Patriots’ defense finally hit back Saturday.
Drake Maye and Tommy DeVito both tossed interceptions during team drills in the team’s third consecutive padded practice. In recent days, the quarterbacks slung completions all over the field and close to a dozen touchdown passes. Aside from running the ball, the offenses moved the ball at will.
That stopped Saturday, starting with the two interceptions, a pair of fumbles, one pass breakup and a few would-be sacks. Defensively, the Patriots’ pass rush continues to lag, but reinforcements have arrived in the form of second-round rookie Gabe Jacas. The young edge rusher did not participate in 11-on-11s, but did knock his position coach to the ground during opening positional drills, a moment that seemed to capture his eagerness and the violent playing style that attracted the Patriots to him during the draft process.
Elsewhere, Mike Vrabel gave several veterans some rest, A.J. Brown wrestled a big catch away from Christian Gonzalez, Romeo Doubs fought through a minor injury and Andy Borregales made his longest field goal of training camp.
Here are the Herald’s complete practice observations:
Attendance
Returned: DL Christian Barmore, OLB Gabe Jacas
Absent: OL Alijah Vera-Tucker, CB Carlton Davis, FB Reggie Gilliam
Limited: WR A.J. Brown, CB Christian Gonzalez, RB Rhamondre Stevenson, CB Marcus Jones, OL Morgan Moses, WR Kyle Williams, OL Caedan Wallace, OL James Hudson III, Jacas
PUP: OLB Harold Landry, TE CJ Dippre
NFI: S Brenden Schooler, RB Terrell Jennings
Notes: Barmore returned after a one-day absence, while Jacas made his training camp debut. Jacas did not participate in team drills. Vera-Tucker missed his first practice after being limited Friday. Davis has been out since suffering a lower-body injury Tuesday.
Brown left practice with roughly 30 minutes left and no visible sign of injury. Gonzalez and Jones took fewer snaps during 11-on-11 work. The inverse was true for Moses, who missed the first half of practice and participated in team periods. Williams was limited late in practice, when he left and then returned to the field. Wallace and Hudson were both banged-up at different points in practice.
Play of the Day
Karon Prunty’s deep INT
First, Prunty ran step for step with his receiver. Straight down the field they went, Prunty, the Patriots’ fifth-round rookie corner, and Cameron Dorner, a big-bodied target who’s made a surprising number of splash plays for an undrafted rookie. Then, Tommy DeVito went long.
The pass hung just slightly in the air, covering at least 50 yards in the air while Prunty saw Dorner’s eyes get wide. He turned back for the ball, boxing out its intended target, leapt and cradled his first interception of training camp. A big-time play for a little-known rookie.
Player of the Day
S Dell Pettus
After an impressive interception of Maye in 11-on-11s, all Pettus had to do for this award was hold on for the rest of practice. That’s exactly what he did.
But first, dropping back from a low zone along the right sideline, Pettus snared a deep pass intended for Mack Hollins amid a crowd of players. The third-year safety followed Maye’s gaze and jumped the pass. Earlier, Pettus defended a Maye deep ball intended for Williams that fell incomplete after he closed on the speedy receiver.
Pettus is competing for a roster spot as the team’s third or fourth safety, and bolstered his case Saturday.
QB Corner
Note: The passing stats below were tallied during competitive 11-on-11 periods only. The stats in parentheses represent the quarterbacks’ camp-long performance.
Drake Maye: 8-of-11, INT, sack (49-of-66, 3 INTs, 4 sacks)
Tommy DeVito: 6-of-11, INT, sack (28-of-42, 2 sacks)
Behren Morton: 2-of-4, sack (19-of-29, sack)
New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels talks with quarterbacks Tommy DeVito, left, and Drake Maye during training camp at Gillette Stadium on Friday, July 31, 2026. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)
Notes: After a clean showing in 7-on-7s, Maye opened full-team periods as he most often has this summer: with a short completion to Brown. That slant throw then led to a shallow-cross connection with Doubs, a deep incompletion down the middle for Williams, a play-action pass that found rookie tight end Tanner Arkin in the right flat and a long jump ball for Brown that he wrestled away from Gonzalez along the left sideline.
All of that momentum stopped quickly, however, when Maye lofted an interception down the right sideline that Pettus dropped back to snare before it could reach Hollins. Next, he hit DeMario Douglas on a rare seam pass that exploited a hole in zone coverage, overthrew Kayshon Boutte, returned to Doubs underneath and threaded a perfect back-shoulder ball to Boutte for roughly a 20-yard gain up against the left sideline. Doubs then fumbled a catch on another shallow cross as he fell to the ground to end Maye’s day in 11-on-11s.
Studs
LB Christian Elliss
Elliss tallied an impressive pass breakup in 7-on-7s, covering several yards to knock a pass away from Douglas. He also recorded a pressure in full-team drills.
DL Christian Barmore
Barmore dominated 1-on-1 pass rush with big wins over Saturday’s starting guards Mike Onwenu and Ben Brown.
Duds
RB Lan Larison
Larison fumbled during 11-on-11s and never broke a long run, which can partly be explained by poor run-blocking unlike his turnover.
OL JonDarius Morgan
Morgan is buried on the depth chart, and may be off it soon after several losses in 1-on-1 pass rush drills and a quick pressure he allowed during team periods.
Offensive notes
Top targets in team drills: WR Romeo Doubs 3/3, WR DeMario Douglas 3/3, WR Cameron Dorner 0/3
Drops: N/A
Top offensive line: LT Will Campbell, LG Ben Brown, C Jared Wilson, RG Mike Onwenu, RT Morgan Moses
1-on-1 pass rush drill winners: G/C Jacob Rizy 3-0, OT Marcus Bryant 2-0, OT Dametrious Crownover 2-1
1-on-1 pass rush drill losers: OT Will Campbell 0-2, OG JonDarius Morgan 1-4
Patriots tight end Hunter Henry, right, and quarterback Drake Maye, left, share a laugh during training camp at Gillette Stadium Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, in Foxboro. (Photo by Paul Connors/Media News Group/Boston Herald)
Running backs
Rhamondre Stevenson took a step back in 11-on-11s, which allowed TreVeyon Henderson to lead off periods with the starting and second-team offense. Half of Henderson’s six carries were stuffed, though he broke one long run up the middle.
Seventh-round rookie Jam Miller keeps stacking positive days, even flashing in blitz pickup on a Tommy DeVito play-action pass to Mack Hollins. Miller is a bit stiff compared to the other backs, but has impressed with his consistency.
Tough sledding continued for Lan Larison, who had one catch on a swing pass and took three hand-offs in team drills.
Undrafted rookie Myles Montgomery is undersized, but he runs as hard as any back on the roster. He ripped off an explosive run and saw one target with the third-team offense. Montgomery should see plenty of action in preseason.
Wide receivers
A.J. Brown made the catch of the day, wrestling a jump ball away from Christian Gonzalez for about a 20-yard gain near the start of team drills. He finished with two receptions, and left the practice field late for apparent load management.
Romeo Doubs enjoyed his most productive practice of the summer with a team-high three catches despite tweaking his left ankle midway through practice. Doubs had it taped on the sideline, then caught a short pass over the middle before fumbling as he fell forward on one of his last reps of the day.
With Brown and Doubs limited, the Patriots rotated several receivers alongside Drake Maye, including Kyle Williams who saw one of his earliest targets down the middle but couldn’t make the catch amid light contact from Dell Pettus. Maye and Williams have not connected often in camp.
As seen on another back-shoulder grab up against the sideline Saturday, Kayshon Boutte’s chemistry with Maye might be the best among the receivers, but his volume lately — four catches in team drills over three padded practices — has not matched his production early in camp.
The same cannot be said, however, for DeMario Douglas, who has caught every on-target pass he’s seen this summer. The seam ball he caught from Maye was another example of the Patriots stretching his route tree to help Douglas better attack the intermediate and deep parts of the field.
Undrafted rookie Cameron Dorner, a popular downfield target for DeVito and Behren Morton, couldn’t reel in the two deep balls he saw, one of which was intercepted.
Tight ends
More Tanner Arkin with the starting offense. Arkin, an undrafted rookie who’s a blocker first and receiver second, is already their most physical tight end. He added one catch from Maye, his first of the summer and third overall in 11-on-11s.
Third-round rookie Eli Raridon went catch-less in team drills for the first time this summer. He primarily worked with the second-team offense.
Hunter Henry also didn’t see a target in 11-on-11s, though he is near the top of the list of players whose workload the Patriots are managing this season.
Offensive line
Overall, the starting O-line had fewer problems with unblocked pressure, but again struggled to create open rushing lanes.
The two longest runs came up the middle, one each for the starting and second-team lines. In total, the offenses had at least six run stuffs, including an opening toss left that went backward.
Caleb Lomu again went 2-2 during individual pass rush drills, a roller-coaster performance for the first-round rookie who mostly drilled as the backup right tackle in team periods.
No Alijah Vera-Tucker slid Ben Brown into the starting lineup at left guard for team drills. Brown, who signed an extension midseason last year, has generally struggled in 1-on-1 pass rush drills, though he held his own versus Milton Williams on Saturday.
Will Campbell took a step back in 1-on-1 pass rush after back-to-back strong days in the drill.
From left to right, the second-team offensive line was Marcus Bryant, Mekhi Butler, Andrew Rupcich, JonDarius Morgan and Lomu.
Backup guard Caedan Wallace, who has seemingly been demoted to third team, and backup tackle James Hudson left at different points with injuries.
Defensive notes
Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez makes a catch during training camp at Gillette Stadium, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, in Foxboro. (Photo by Paul Connors/Media News Group/Boston Herald)
Interceptions: S Dell Pettus, CB Karon Prunty
Pass breakups: LB Christian Elliss, CB Kobee Minor
Would-be sacks: LB Khalil Jacobs, OLB Amari Gainer, Team
1-on-1 pass rush drill winners: DL Christian Barmore 2-0, DT Isaiah Iton 2-1, OLB Bradyn Swinson 2-1
1-on-1 pass rush drill losers: OLB Xavier Holmes 0-3, DT Milton Williams 0-2
Defensive linemen
The good news: the depth behind Milton Williams and Christian Barmore may be better than expected. The bad news: it’s hard to know which backup will perform on a given day.
Saturday belonged to Leonard Taylor III, who was the rare player to take reps on the first-team defense and third-string unit during team drills.
Taylor had two pressures in 11-on-11s and split his battles during 1-on-1 pass rush.
Former fourth-round pick Joshua Farmer, who’s had perhaps the least flashy camp among the backups, scored two nice wins in 1-on-1 pass rush and had a run stuff during team periods.
Barmore had a better practice than Williams, though Williams has been the steadiest of all the defensive tackles. Cory Durden, who’s occasionally rotated in with the starters, went 1-1 during pass-rushing drills against Jared Wilson, whom he put on his back. He was first off the bench with Taylor in 11-on-11s.
Linebackers
As Robert Spillane works through a quiet camp, fellow inside linebacker Christian Elliss flashes again and again, this time in coverage during 7-on-7s with a pass breakup. He’s allowed a handful of catches, but Elliss has also proven to be their best blitzer and sniffed out a few screens.
Veterans K.J. Britt and Chad Muma saw some starting snaps at inside linebacker opposite the top offense. But daily, undrafted rookie Khalil Jacobs (sack) is pushing for more time on those units.
On the edge, Dre’Mont Jones tallied a pressure in team drills, and Elijah Ponder had a down day relative to some recent practices. He lost his initial rep of 1-on-1 pass rush to Caleb Lomu.
Behind them, second-year edge rusher Bradyn Swinson took most of his snaps with the reserve units during 11-on-11s after an impressive performance in 1-on-1s.
Down day for Xavier Holmes, an undrafted rookie who had moonlighted with the starting defense; likely due to depth problems. He should head back down the depth chart in light of Jacas’ return.
Defensive backs
Christian Gonzalez had his reps limited in 11-on-11s, where he allowed one catch and again worked opposite Charles Woods.
Fifth-round rookie Karon Prunty is the first defensive back to tally a pass deflection in consecutive practices. He was also in coverage on Maye’s perfectly placed back-shoulder completion to Boutte.
Nice day for Dell Pettus, whose recent ascent has coincided with some forgettable days for free-agent veteran Mike Brown, his chief competition for the third safety spot.
With Marcus Jones also seeing fewer reps during team drills, former sixth-round pick Marcellas Dial saw more reps at nickelback and had good coverage of Efton Chism during one DeVito incompletion over the middle that would have registered as a sack in a game setting.
Former seventh-round pick Kobee Minor seemed to stop the bleeding at least for one day, giving up just one catch and breaking up another target on a deep pass intended for Cameron Dorner.
Special teams
Andy Borregales is now 21-of-23 on field goal attempts this summer, following a 5-of-5 showing Saturday. He hit his longest in the neighborhood of 55 yards away.
On a day of partial rest for Marcus Jones, DeMario Douglas, Efton Chism, Romeo Doubs and Kobe Prentice served as the punt returners.
Mike Vrabel worked specifically with the newly-arrived Gabe Jacas on punt protection. Vrabel is often involved on special teams, as his his vice president of football operations and strategy John “Stretch” Streicher.
Extra points
Players are off Sunday before a five-day stretch next week when the team will practice every day.
Hunter Henry, Robert Spillane, Marcus Jones, Behren Morton, Tanner Arkin and Karon Prunty spoke to reporters after practice.
The Patriots will hold their eighth training camp practice Monday at 10:15 a.m. Fan admission and parking are free.