FOXBORO — Two snaps.
That’s all it took over a drizzly Monday afternoon practice for the Patriots offense to again remind viewers of its shaky foundation. Whatever plays Bill O’Brien might design on the white board or passes Mac Jones may fire from the pocket or upgrades the front office probably made at wide receiver and tight end, the offensive line remains suspect. And until the Pats can block consistently, problems will persist.
The Patriots’ starting defense “sacked” Jones on his second snap of live team drills, when defensive tackle Davon Godchaux burst through the middle of the line like the Kool-Aid man. Jones received a nice reprieve in the next period, when they faced the Patriots’ third-string defense and took turns dicing it up with Bailey Zappe. But when the starting defense met them again inside the red zone, and later over ensuing two-minute drills, the offense stalled.
Why?
The offensive line allowed Jones and Zappe to be sacked a combined six times and drew four flags, with the referees for Thursday’s preseason opener on-hand to officiate practice. The running game went nowhere, and the progress shown last week began to feel like it was being washed away by an intermittent rain. The questions of when starting left tackle Trent Brown, left guard Cole Strange and right guard Mike Onwenu will return from their respective injuries can’t be answered soon enough.
Elsewhere, defensive tackle Christian Barmore pulled off the pass-rush move of camp, the wide receivers remained a mixed bag, rookie quarterback/wide receiver Malik Cunningham put on a show, Marcus Jones snatched an interception and the kicking competition beat on.
Here are the Herald’s complete practice observations.
Attendance
Returned: C David Andrews
Absent: CB Jonathan Jones, C David Andrews, OL Cole Strange, ST Matthew Slater, RB/WR Ty Montgomery, OL Bill Murray
Limited: OT Trent Brown
Non-contact jersey: LB/S Marte Mapu, TE Johnny Lumpkin
PUP: OL Mike Onwenu, S Cody Davis
Non-Football Illness: OT Calvin Anderson
Notes: Andrews returned after a one-day absence. Jonathan Jones and Slater have now missed three straight practices. Murray sat out his first. Montgomery has been out for close to two weeks, while Strange is closing in on one. He watched the late stages of practice from the sideline with Anderson, who was in street clothes.
Brown did not participate in team drills or wear full pads, though he did don shoulder pads and carry his helmet around after engaging in individual drills.
Play of the Day
Kayshon Boutte’s touchdown
Boutte has pulled down as many, if not more, highlight grabs than any other receiver since the start of last week. His total catches and targets continue to trail the other wideouts, but with more plays like the one he made Monday, that could change.
On a rollout play-action pass, Boutte found himself all alone on the right side of the end zone, as undrafted rookie Malik Cunningham (playing his listed quarterback position) sailed the ball a couple feet over his head. Boutte, though, had no trouble slowing his momentum, shooting one arm skyward and snaring the pass before tumbling backwards. Good catch, great play.
Player of the Day
DL Deatrich Wise
The only player to notch two sacks in team drills, Wise reached Mac Jones twice in the same period. He sniffed out a tight end screen on the opening snap of red-zone work, then knifed inside the pocket to kill another play.
Wise also went 2-0-1 during individual pass rush. He beat fourth-round rookie Sidy Sow, fifth-round rookie Atonio Mafi and tied projected starting right tackle Riley Reiff.
QB Corner
Note: The passing stats below were tallied during competitive 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 periods only. The stats in parentheses represent the quarterbacks’ camp-long performance.
Mac Jones: 12/18 (100/153, 4 INTs)
Bailey Zappe: 11/20, INT (92/147, 3 INTs)
Trace McSorley: 1/2 (44/76, 4 INTs)
Studs
CB Jack Jones
Before Davon Godchaux “sacked” Mac Jones in 11-on-11s, Jack Jones swatted away the quarterback’s first pass. He jumped JuJu Smith-Schuster’s curl route along the right sideline and knocked it away, despite wearing large, flat mitts worn to prevent defensive holding and pass interference. He also earned a pass breakup at the start of 1-on-1 drills while defending Kendrick Bourne.
K Nick Folk
The veteran kicker went 5-for-6 attempting field goals of 43 yards or more. He missed from 47, but also hit from that distance and 50 yards away. Fourth-round rookie Chad Ryland remains the heavy favorite to win the starting job, but Folk isn’t going away just yet.
Duds
WR JuJu Smith-Schuster
The Patriots’ projected No. 1 receiver hardly looked like it Monday, dropping one pass during 1-on-1 drills and letting another get batted away. He only caught just two of four passes in 11-on-11s periods, with both incompletions resulting from poor separation.
OT Sidy Sow
Rough day for the rookie.
Sow, a college guard, continues to play right tackle in team periods and got beat for two sacks. Perhaps even worse, he went 0-3 during individual pass rush. Due to various injuries, he’s been repping as the Patriots’ second-team right tackle, though it’s fair to wonder how much longer that will last.
Offensive notes
- Let’s start at the finish. Jones led a pair of two-minute drills to nowhere at the end of practice. The latter series went Rhamondre Stevenson run, DeVante Parker slant catch versus Jack Jones, a scramble, low incompletion to Parker and a sack.
- Jones’ initial two-minute drill also began with a run, then featured a successful screen pass, Matt Judon sack, Hunter Henry catch in the flat, a second holding penalty on the offensive line, long Mike Gesicki grab and incompletion to JuJu Smith-Schuster in a crowd.
- Inside the red zone, Jones took a pair of sacks, hit Kendrick Bourne and J.J. Taylor on passes to the flat and overthrew Parker in the back corner of the end zone around a run stuff.
- Jones’ better completions mostly came against backups, including Parker beating seventh-round rookie corner Isaiah Bolden for a 30-yard sideline bomb that was slightly underthrown. He also found Gesicki on a deep crosser against Kyle Dugger.
- Until his two-minute drill, Zappe was even worse; getting intercepted on a deep ball intended for Tyquan Thornton, having two passes batted at the line and misfiring badly on three other throws.
- His two-minute drill consisted of a short run, Demario Douglas catch in the flat, poor throw to Gesicki, Pierre Strong screen completion, Gesicki beating rookie linebacker Marte Mapu on a deep out, a quick-out completion to Bourne and Mack Wilson pass breakup.
- The biggest quarterback news, though, came courtesy of undrafted rookie Malik Cunningham. In the spring, Cunningham told reporters he was converted to receiver full-time, but he went 4-of-7 in team drills as a passer.
- Cunningham also ripped off designed and spontaneous runs. His athleticism helped him keep multiple plays alive even if the offense struggled overall, especially in one period versus the starting defense.
- Stevenson enjoyed a lighter day, taking a few hand-offs and catching one pass during team periods. Second-year backs Kevin Harris and Pierre Strong continue to carry most of the load in training camp.
- Out wide, Bourne started his day with a drop in a 1-on-1 receiving drill and butter-fingering another pass in team drills. He finished strong, however, with two catches versus rookie corner Isaiah Bolden and another pair against zone coverage.
- Tyquan Thornton’s struggles seemingly have no end. He went 1-of-3 on targets in team periods, including a completed tunnel screen and a fade throw backup corner Shaun Wade easily blanketed in the red zone.
- Sixth-round rookie Demario Douglas again worked out of the slot with the top offense and caught all three passes he saw — although none came from Mac Jones. Douglas instead connected twice with Zappe and another time with Cunningham.
- Douglas also beat Marcus Jones for a fourth time this summer in 1-on-1s. His quickness and explosion is unparalleled among the receivers.
- Quiet day for Hunter Henry, who snatched one pass to the flat and another on a tight end screen that likely would’ve been blown up before the pass was released.
- Gesicki had one of his sharper practices of the summer, reeling in three of four targets, including intermediate throws from Jones and Zappe.
- The story along the offensive line remains the same with pads or no pads: the pass protection isn’t strong enough.
- With David Andrews back in the lineup, the top unit went, from left to right: Riley Reiff, fifth-round rookie Atonio Mafi, Andrews, Kody Russey and Conor McDermott.
- Top targets in team drills: Bourne 4/5, Gesicki 3/4, Smith-Schuster 2/4, Parker 2/4, Nixon 2/4, Douglas 3/3
- Drops: Bourne 2, Smith-Schuster
- 1-on-1 receiving drill winners: Douglas 2-0, Nixon 2-0
- 1-on-1 receiving drill losers: Smith-Schuster 0-2, Bourne 0-2
- 1-on-1 pass-blocking winners: James Ferentz 2-1, Conor McDermott 1-0
- 1-on-1 pass-blocking losers: Sidy Sow 0-3, Kody Russey 0-2, Atonio Mafi 0-1-1
Defensive notes
- Starting and second-string personnel during team periods: defensive linemen Davon Godchaux, Christian Barmore, Lawrence Guy, Deatrich Wise, Keion White, Carl Davis and Daniel Ekuale; linebackers Matt Judon, Ja’Whaun Bentley, Chris Board, Mack Wilson, Jahlani Tavai, Josh Uche, Marte Mapu and Anfernee Jennings, and defensive backs Kyle Dugger, Adrian Phillips, Jalen Mills, Jabrill Peppers, Christian Gonzalez, Jonathan Jones, Myles Bryant, Jack Jones, Marcus Jones, Isaiah Bolden and Ameer Speed.
- Interceptions: Marcus Jones
- Pass breakups: Jack Jones, Mack Wilson
- Would-be sacks: Team 2, Deatrich Wise 2, Matt Judon, Christian Barmore, Davon Godchaux, Lawrence Guy
- 1-on-1 coverage drill winners: Christian Gonzalez 2-0, Jack Jones 1-1, Myles Bryant 1-1, Marcus Jones 1-1
- 1-on-1 coverage drill losers: Rodney Randle Jr. 0-2, Shaun Wade 0-1
- 1-on-1 pass rush winners: Daniel Ekuale 2-0, Keion White 2-1, Deatrich Wise 1-0-1, Josh Uche 1-0-1
- 1-on-1 pass rush losers: Carl Davis 0-1
- The starting defense has bested Mac Jones and Co. for two straight practices thanks almost entirely to its pass rush.
- While the lack of O-line talent ought to concern, the depth of the Pats’ front seven — particularly with Matt Judon back — is impressive.
- The Patriots pressured Jones and Zappe from all angles, with Godchaux and Guy flying up the middle, Wise and Judon off the edge and Barmore and second-round rookie Keion White playing across the line.
- Barmore mesmerized with his opening rep in 1-on-1 pass rush, when he lifted second-year guard/center Kody Russey off the ground with a “counter hump” move he learned from studying tape of the late, great Reggie White.
- Barmore’s emergence in the middle could prevent teams from doubling Judon and/or Uche on the edges, protection tactics their teammates have adopted in practice.
- Daniel Ekuale, an interior pass-rushing specialist, swatted James Ferentz’s hands away and burst through during another notable 1-on-1 rep.
- Uche tried to power through his opponents to mixed results in 1-on-1s. His breakout last year was built on the counter moves he’d developed off his patented speed pass rush.
- Judon did not participate in 1-on-1s or the opening 11-on-11 drills, but was a staple of the red-zone period and two-minute drills against Mac Jones.
- Marcus Jones’ interception came on a right-to-left deep post throw Zappe intended for backup receiver/special teamer Raleigh Webb. The ball drifted back right, where Jones leapt and spun for it more than 40 yards downfield before making the catch.
- Jones saw two other targets, only one of which was completed. His roller-coaster camp has not provided any clarity yet whether he’s better suited at nickelback, outside corner or splitting time between both positions AKA the Myles Bryant model.
- The Patriots’ starting defense again featured Jack Jones at outside corner, another indication his brief departure from practice last week hasn’t impacted his standing with the team.
- Backup safety Joshuah Bledsoe, who starred on Sunday, was beaten for three catches.
- The defensive backs wore mitts for the initial team periods to prevent them from committing holding and/or pass interference penalties.
Special teams
- While Folk went 5-of-6 on his field goal attempts, rookie kicker Chad Ryland didn’t attempt a single kick.
- Folk’s last attempt, his successful 50-yarder, was made without a live rush.
- The Patriots drilled kick returns, with Marcus Jones, Isaiah Bolden and Demario Douglas back deep.
Extra points
- Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla visited with Bill Belichick during practice. Mazzulla also traveled to Foxboro last summer before his promotion to interim head coach.
- The Patriots will hold their next practice on Tuesday at 1 p.m., their last before Thursday’s preseason opener versus Houston.
