Following their preseason opener on Friday night and a day off on Saturday, the New England Patriots were back to work on Sunday. The final open session of the summer was a lighter but still highly competitive one.<\/p>\n
Here is what went down on the fields behind Gillette Stadium.<\/p>\n
Attire: Shorts, shoulder pads<\/p>\n
Duration: ca. 90 minutes (10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. ET)<\/p>\n
Conditions: Sunny, temperatures in the mid 80s<\/p>\n
Coming off their first game of the year and with a pair of joint practices on the schedule later this week, the Patriots decided to wear only their shoulder pads on Sunday. The practice also featured a heavy focus on the red zone, an area head coach Mike Vrabel was not quite happy about coming out of the Patriots\u2019 48-18 win over the Commanders.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know how critical that is. We didn\u2019t get a stop defensively in the red zone. We did a nice job offensively in the red zone, but defensively it wasn\u2019t very good,\u201d he said prior to practice, seemingly challenging the unit to bounce back. \u201cSo, again, we like coming off these days in the red zone. Shorter space for the players, but it\u2019s still a critical area where you need precision and speed, it\u2019s just not maybe long speed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not participating: CB Christian Gonzalez, WR Ja\u2019Lynn Polk, S Josh Minkins, RB Lan Larison, RB Rhamondre Stevenson, WR Kendrick Bourne, LB Elijah Ponder<\/p>\n
Returned: LB K\u2019Lavon Chaisson, OL Sidy Sow, OL Caedan Wallace<\/p>\n
Departed: OT Marcus Bryant, CB D.J. James, LB Marte Mapu, TE Hunter Henry<\/p>\n
In their return to the practice field, New England saw a handful of new non-participants including Ja\u2019Lynn Polk, Josh Minkins, Elijah Ponder and running backs Lan Larison and Rhamondre Stevenson. After wearing a walking boot post game, Larison is expected to land on injured reserve while Mike Vrabel shared that neither Polk nor Christian Gonzalez will practice this week.<\/p>\n
New England then saw a handful of players depart Sunday\u2019s session early. Marcus Bryant and D.J. James departed with trainers while Marte Mapu also was spotted in the medical shed and did not return. Hunter Henry left the practice field but did not seem to receive any medical attention.<\/p>\n
The Patriots were also joined by a pair of new players. On offense, there was a new No. 30 \u2014 potentially running back Demeric Brown \u2014 with a No. 55 also participating on the defensive side of the ball.<\/p>\n
Defense punches back: As Mike Vrabel pointed out before practice, the Patriots\u2019 defense did not record a red zone stop in the preseason opener. With the focus on that part of the field on Sunday, New England\u2019s defense responded by largely shutting down Drake Maye and the top offense.<\/p>\n
In the final period near the goal line, Maye fired three straight incompletions; two of those were broken up by cornerbacks Marcus Jones and Carlton Davis. While Maye\u2019s last pass was caught by Kayshon Boutte for an apparent touchdown, his final one-minute drill from the 45-yard line featured potentially two or three would-be sacks, one bad snap, two incompletions, and then a drop in the end zone from Stefon Diggs on the final play of scrimmage.<\/p>\n
It was a decisive win for the defense and an overall sloppy day for Maye and the starting offense.<\/p>\n
Secondary report: Participating in his first non-walkthrough of the summer, cornerback Carlton Davis was a staple along the outside and tallied the aforementioned pass breakup in coverage on Kayshon Boutte. He largely played opposite of Alex Austin with Marcus Jones, who was also involved for a pass of pass breakups while blowing up a screen, in the slot.<\/p>\n
Following the injury to D.J. James, cornerback Miles Battle was first up to replace him in the rotation. The 6-foot-3 Battle was in the area for an end zone breakup on a Maye target to Mack Hollins near the end of practice.<\/p>\n
As for the safety room, New England\u2019s top big nickel look consisted of Jabrill Peppers, Jaylinn Hawkins, and rookie Craig Woodson, who almost had a near pick off of Maye but could not scrape the ball off the ground. Kyle Dugger\u2019s playing time continued to take a hit as he primarily worked with the second unit.<\/p>\n
Chism\u2019s climb: Following his strong preseason debut, undrafted wide receiver Efton Chism III continued to make an impact on the practice fields Sunday. After hauling in two touchdowns from Joshua Dobbs in 7-on-7s \u2014 including a juke over the middle and short out route \u2014 Chism connected again with the QB in full-team work before then making the catch of the day.<\/p>\n
With Dobbs lofting a desperation heave into the end zone, Chism boxed out Marcus Jones and went up to high-point the football and make the catch \u2014 surviving the ground as he crashed down in the process. It was another highlight reel grab from the 5-foot-10 receiver. It becomes tougher and tougher to envision a final 53-man roster without him.<\/p>\n
Kicking competition: For the first time in two weeks, rookie Andy Borregales saw a field goal attempt fail to split the uprights. He ended the day connecting on 3-of-4 attempts. Meanwhile, Parker Romo continued his hot summer going 4-of-4.<\/p>\n
The two kickers worked between roughly 33 and 40 yards, with Borregales\u2019 miss being pushed slightly wide left.<\/p>\n
Other notes: Stefon Diggs failed to haul in either of his two targets in full team work which featured a bad drop of the final play of the day in the end zone. He did connect with Maye in 7s on a pretty ball near the back right pylon. \u2026 The top offensive line remained the same: Will Campbell, Jared Wilson, Garrett Bradbury, Mike Onwenu, Morgan Moses. \u2026 Bradbury continued to struggle in 1-on-1s and had a low snap in team work. \u2026 With Marcus Bryant leaving, Vederian Lowe (left) and Demontrey Jacobs (right) were the top two reserve tackles. Caedan Wallace then retook his place at backup left guard with Ben Brown at center. \u2026 K\u2019Lavon Chaisson picked up where he left off in his return and appeared to beat Will Campbell twice in the final one-minute drive. \u2026 Campbell did have two wins against Keion White in 1s, however. \u2026 Jared Wilson appeared to go undefeated in his three 1-on-1s. \u2026 Khyiris Tonga continues to impress from a pass rush standpoint. \u2026 Marcus Cannon and Sebastian Volmer were in attendance.<\/p>\n
The Patriots will return to the practice field on Monday before a travel day to Minnesota on Tuesday, where two joint practices are on the schedule prior to preseason game No. 2. Monday\u2019s session on the Gillette Stadium practice fields will begin at 10:15 a.m. ET with the session being open exclusively to the media. A select group of players will then be made available to speak after practice.<\/p>\n