After a pair of joint practices with the Minnesota Vikings, the New England Patriots remained in the win column in Week 2 of the preseason.<\/p>\n
Naturally, most of our attention this week was on that game and the practices leading up to it. As a result, our weekly wrap-up also has a heavy focus on the trip to the Midwest.<\/p>\n
With that said, welcome to the latest edition of our Sunday Patriots Notes.<\/p>\n
The Minnesota defense did everything in their power to make life difficult for Drake Maye during a pair of joint practices. Particularly on Thursday, the Vikings heated up the pressure and covered well in the secondary.<\/p>\n
Still, the 22-year-old handled things well which left some inside the building praising his mental toughness \u2014 with Mike Vrabel also complementing him for handling the \u201cs\u2014tstorm\u201d<\/a> \u2014 as Maye connected on a handful of explosive plays on the practice fields.<\/p>\n \u201cI was really excited about the way he handled those practices this week,\u201d offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said on WBZ during the preseason game. \u201cPractice by nature is always difficult because you put yourself in a scenario where you run the same thing over and over again. That\u2019s not really how a football game goes. There were a lot of long yardage situations that he had to handle. A lot of 2-minute drills. A lot of difficult low-red zone situations that he was a part of. I think we saw a lot of growth from him.\u201d<\/p>\n Perhaps the most promising sign for Maye over two days of work: no turnovers.<\/p>\n \u201cHe did a great job taking care of the football, had great poise,\u201d McDaniels added. \u201cAnd there\u2019s not going to be a more difficult defense to have to deal with before the ball is snapped \u2013 and then combine that with how good they are after the ball is snapped. Really excited about where he\u2019s going, where he\u2019s headed. I love the way he works. Love the way he approaches every day. Patriot Nation should be excited, too.\u201d<\/p>\n As work translated to the game field on Saturday, it was another slow start for Maye\u2019s unit, however. The quarterback had a high completion to Mack Hollins before overshooting Pop Douglas on a pass that was then nearly intercepted.<\/p>\n Maye was also flagged for a delay of game penatly which he took the blame for postgame.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to win,\u201d Maye said Saturday. \u201cI missed Pop high. He was wide open sitting in a zone out there. There\u2019s a couple plays we should have back, but I thought the guys up front blocked well. It\u2019s preseason, but these guys are still trying to tackle us and stop us. We\u2019re trying to go down and score.\u201d<\/p>\n Returning for a second series, Maye rebounded well as he did in the preseason opener. A nine-play drive ended with a touchdown on the ground, as Maye completed two-of-three passes including a 20-yard gain to Mack Hollins as he rolled out to his right along the sideline.<\/p>\n The drive was a strong ending to an overall strong week from Maye, which might also mark the last time he takes the field until the Patriots regular season opener in three week.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Vikings, what they put in last year, and the regular season they have and the talent they have back, it\u2019s great for us to go up for two days of practice and then come out here and finish off a preseason game,\u201d Maye said postgame. \u201cI thought it was good work. Good for us to see different stuff, see different defenses, see different talent. Coach Flores does some good stuff on defense, so it\u2019s good for us to see the stuff he does and learn from it and carry it into the regular season.\u201d<\/p>\n Campbell\u2019s short memory<\/p>\n Thursday\u2019s practice in Minnesota was a rough one for offensive tackle Will Campbell. Matched up against Pro Bowl edge rusher Jonathan Greenard, the veteran beat the rookie clean on three instances in a span of 11 pass plays.<\/p>\n Campbell then ended his day with a false start in an end-of-game situation.<\/p>\n Despite the struggles, Campbell\u2019s teammates \u2014 even those who are going against him this summer \u2014 believe he is having a strong camp.<\/p>\n \u201cWill\u2019s been doing a great job, for sure. There\u2019s this weird motive that\u2019s kind of going around that Will\u2019s having an up and down camp, but Will\u2019s doing a great job,\u201d Chaisson said. \u201cIt\u2019s tough when you get to go against someone every single day. Whether you know their moves or not, it\u2019s still somebody willing to go against you every single day and give you a battle. That\u2019s what we need as a team. We\u2019re making each other better, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n While Campbell did not have to deal with Greenard or the rest of Minnesota\u2019s starting pass rushers on Saturday, it was a more positive performance from the rookie. He had strong blocks on a pair of runs, including the touchdown, and appeared to be clean in pass protection through two drives.<\/p>\n The short memory has also stood out to his teammates.<\/p>\n \u201cYou make one mistake one day, don\u2019t come back and make the same mistake the next day, find something else to make a mistake on that we can get better every day about,\u201d veteran Morgan Moses shared. \u201cI think Will\u2019s done a great job at that. It was just, getting better every day, asking questions and that\u2019s what you want as a young guy.\u201d<\/p>\n Henderson \u2018blows away\u2019 Minny<\/p>\n Taking the field on Wednesday in an end-of-game situation, Drake Maye needed just two plays to find the end zone. After a screen pass to TreVeyon Henderson, Maye found one of those big plays when he looked back to his back on a wheel route down the left sideline and hit him in stride. The explosive Henderson went untouched into the end zone for a 70-yard score.<\/p>\n On the WBZ preseason broadcast, Devin McCourty shared that Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores and his team was \u201cblown away\u201d by how good Henderson was. The rookie has been perhaps New England\u2019s best offensive weapon this summer and went on to find the end zone on the ground in Saturday\u2019s preseason game.<\/p>\n Williams earns unprompted praise<\/p>\n It has seemed like a quiet portion of the summer for rookie wide receiver Kyle Williams. But, Mike Vrabel made sure to note unprompted that the receiver has been getting open. That was the case in the preseason opener when Williams failed to haul in any of his four targets but was creating separation throughout the night.<\/p>\n \u201cNo different than Kyle Williams. Kyle Williams is working extremely hard. Ball hasn\u2019t really found him. He\u2019s been open. There\u2019s been separation,\u201d Vrabel responded to a question about Stefon Diggs.<\/p>\n In preseason game No. 2, the football began to find Williams as he hauled in four catches. Unfortunately, the last one resulted in a big hit that ended his night early. Williams shared with reporters at his locker post game that he felt good, but his status will be one to watch on the practice fields Monday.<\/p>\n With Williams\u2019 injury, Efton Chism III\u2019s big preseason game, and Javon Baker\u2019s relatively quiet night in Minnesota, what the Patriots wide receiver room looks like after cutdown day remains a top question mark.<\/p>\n It appears the five locks remain with Stefon Diggs, DeMario Douglas, Kayshon Boutte, Mack Hollins, and Williams, while Chism has played into a surefire lock as the sixth receiver. Decision time will then be centered on Baker and potentially Kendrick Bourne if he can return from injury and if the team decides to keep seven at the position.<\/p>\n Of note: two of Mike Vrabel\u2019s final three initial 53-man rosters in Tennessee featured seven wide receivers (2021, 2023).<\/p>\n Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels gave Efton Chism III film cutups of old Danny Amendola targets this summer. So, when Amnedola attended a recent training camp practice, the two-time Super Bowl Champion made sure to go up to Chism to deliver a quick message: \u201cKeep up the good work.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, he\u2019s been out here almost every day. I\u2019m excited of where he\u2019s at and we\u2019ll see when Week 1 comes\u2026 We can\u2019t predict the future about Week 1. I just know he\u2019s going to be out there today, and he works hard and he cares, which are two important things,\u201d Mike Vrabel said Thursday about Stefon Diggs\u2019 status moving forward.<\/p>\n The Patriots kicker competition has appeared to remain close between Andy Borregales and Parker Romo, although it was noticeable to see Borregales handle all six attempts in joint practices and two field goals in preseason action compared to Romo\u2019s one.<\/p>\n With the two remaining largely neck-and-neck, their performance handling the new kickoff will likely become part of the equation \u2014 which Romo was flagged for on Saturday with a ball landing short of the landing zone.<\/p>\n The more you can do, the better,\u201d special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer said. \u201cAble to put the ball in different areas, different directions, kind of like a punter, right? A punter has a hook ball. He\u2019s got a banana ball, right, left spiral end over end plus 50.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I think those kickers, as we\u2019re seeing in year 2 now, if you have more bag of tricks for yourself and you can kind of still kick field goals consistently right there, that creates more value for yourself. So that\u2019s always an important thing right there.\u201d<\/p>\n Setting up the week ahead<\/p>\n The Patriots will hold two more practice sessions at Gillette Stadium before flying to New Jersey on Wednesday for their final preseason game of the season against the New York Giants.<\/p>\n The full schedule for this week looks as follows:<\/p>\n Sunday, Aug. 17: Day offMonday, Aug. 18: Practice in Foxborough, MA (3:15 p.m. ET)Tuesday: Aug. 19: Practice in Foxborough, MA (10:15 a.m. ET)Wednesday, Aug. 20: Walkthrough and Travel dayThursday, Aug. 21: Preseason Week 3 Patriots at Giants (8 p.m. ET)Friday, Aug. 22: TBDSaturday, Aug. 23: TBDSunday, Aug. 24: TBD<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a pair of joint practices with the Minnesota Vikings, the New England Patriots remained in the win…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2050],"tags":[7,1167,249,52640,1095,20134,20133,2326,2094,6,208],"class_list":{"0":"post-295551","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-england-patriots","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-new-england","10":"tag-new-england-patriots","11":"tag-new-england-patriots-analysis","12":"tag-new-england-patriots-opinion","13":"tag-new-england-patriots-preseason","14":"tag-new-england-patriots-training-camp","15":"tag-newengland","16":"tag-newenglandpatriots","17":"tag-nfl","18":"tag-patriots"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115044550378846084","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}