Eagan, MN — The Patriots and Vikings held a competitive joint practice on the road in Minnesota on Wednesday afternoon.
New England faced an old friend in Vikings defensive mastermind Brian Flores. Flores has a unique, dynamic rush package that's a huge challenge. In fact, the Pats spent Monday's practice back in Foxboro doing some game-planning for Flores's scheme, something that's rare in the preseason, as head coach Mike Vrabel outlined before practice.
"We just didn't want these guys to come in without any idea of what that would look like. There is a lot of front multiplicity. There's a lot of stuff that they do, and I think it's only fair to give the players some kind of idea of what may – or hopefully see today, and if it's not, then we'll make some adjustments as we go on here through practice and then into tomorrow," Vrabel said.
For the Patriots offense, Wednesday's practice was glass-half-full, glass-half-empty. You cannot tell the story of practice without mentioning the pressure on QB Drake Maye, which was noticeable. However, the positives were there, too. Maye and his supporting cast threw a few haymakers themselves. Most notably, Maye took advantage of the Vikings defense having fewer defenders in coverage to hit several big plays, including explosive gains to receivers Mack Hollins, Kayshon Boutte and RB TreVeyon Henderson.
In the last practice period, the Patriots and Vikings competed in a 1:15 drill where the offense needed a field goal to tie or a touchdown to win. Maye's first series didn't last long. The Pats QB dropped back to pass with Henderson releasing on a wheel route up the left sideline, and the speedy back got loose with Maye hitting him in stride for a 65-yard touchdown. Maye ran down to greet his rookie running back in the end zone, and the Patriots sideline erupted.
When you face a Flores-led defense, it will be a heavyweight matchup, with the two sides exchanging punches. From this perspective, we're leaving the first day of joint practice in Minnesota with a positive feeling after a flurry of big plays by the Patriots offense, while also acknowledging that the Vikings pass rush was impactful.
Here are 11 takeaways from the Patriots offense versus the Vikings defense on Wednesday in Minnesota.
- Maye seemed to handle Flores's pressure package well, finding completions as practice wore on. There were a few instances where it was debatable whether or not Maye would've escaped a sack, but he seemed to hit a few roll-out completions that would've been good in a game. When facing a blitz-heavy defense, Maye's ability to get out of dodge is a bonus. Backup QB Joshua Dobbs threw two interceptions on an out route and seemed to miss a zone-dropper in the window on a pass intended for WR Efton Chism III.
- RB TreVeyon Henderson is a playmaker. His wheel route to cap off practice was great, but his most impressive rep was a blitz pickup. Henderson stood in the A-Gap against a pressure front, stopped a blitzing linebacker in his tracks and Maye beat the blitz on a completion to Pop Douglas on a deep out. Henderson continues to look like a special talent.
- RB Rhamondre Stevenson worked off to the side during the session. Before practice, Vrabel said he doesn't believe Stevenson will be out long. TE Hunter Henry also sat out the session. The veteran tight end was present, but didn't participate in the practice.
- WR Stefon Diggs fully participated in practice against his former team. Diggs showed out during 1-on-1s and 7-on-7s, dusting Vikings corners in 1s. He was putting on a show. During team drills, Maye's top targets were mostly Boutte, Diggs, Douglas and Hollins. Douglas remained a steady safety blanket, while Hollins got behind the Vikings defense for a long touchdown, then punted the ball into the stands to get his teammates fired up.
- LT Will Campbell went 1-1 vs. Vikings top edge rusher Jonathan Greenard in 1-on-1s, and had some ups and downs in pass protection during team drills, getting beat to the inside for a sack by Greenard. LG Jared Wilson went 2-0 vs. Vikings interior rusher Javon Hargrave. Wilson continues to stand out in pass protection drills. The coaches keep testing the left side on stunts, which continues to be a mixed bag.
- RT Morgan Moses participated fully, winning two impressive reps against Dallas Turner in 1-on-1s. Moses and RG Mike Onwenu also won two out of three reps in a 2-on-2 stunt drill. The right side seemed stout, with the two veterans holding their own in team and 1-on-/2-on-2s.
- The pressure mostly seemed to be coming off the left side and through the middle of the line. Flores came after them in this practice, with his full deck of exotic blitzes. From this vantage point, the protection was shaky, but most of it seemed communication/blitz pickup-based rather than physical. The Vikings run defense was also stout for most of practice, with Henderson hitting a smooth outside zone run but not much else.
- As for the second-string offense, the group seemed to create more rushing lanes in team drills than the first unit, with newcomer RB Shane Watts breaking off a few nice runs. Watts has a similar skillset to undrafted rookie RB Lan Larison, who was placed on injured reserve earlier this week, with noticeable quickness and some burst.
- Rookie OT Marcus Bryant went 1-1 in his 1-on-1 matchups against Vikings edge rusher Bo Richter. Bryant anchored down well on his first rep, but Richter beat him with an inside spin on their second rep. As mentioned, the second unit created some room for the backs, so Bryant was at least not holding them back from finding success on the ground.
- Some context to the early team periods: Vikings HC Kevin O'Connell requested a 2nd-and-long period where the offense's goal was to get back on schedule for 3rd-and-manageable. This led to a shaky start for the Patriots offense playing from behind the sticks.
- After practice, Maye and Vrabel went to cheer on Special Olympic athletes participating in a 7-on-7 game. Maye coached "Team Mass" vs. "Team Minnesota" while Vrabel officiated the game. Several other Pats players, including former Vikings Stefon Diggs and Garrett Bradbury, stopped by. Vrabel's right-hand man, John "Stretch" Streicher, also helped officiate. One lesson Maye said he learned from the Special Olympians: don't get too down after a bad play.
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