After more than two weeks of monotony working against each other, the Patriots got a chance to hit someone wearing a different uniform on Tuesday. The Indianapolis Colts were in town for a joint practice ahead of Thursday night's preseason opener at Gillette Stadium, and Mike Vrabel was excited about the opportunity.
"Hopefully we can continue to take some strides in what we believe or hope that our identity is going to be, the fundamentals that are critical, being able to do it against a different team, one that we haven't game planned against, one that we haven't seen, one that we' have a lot of respect for as a team and what they do," Vrabel said before the session.
"So, we can work together, we can compete, and we can also take care of each other. These are great opportunities for good reps, for individual reps, for team reps, red zone, situational work, good special teams work. So, I think it will be good for some of our young guys that haven't seen some of those special teams drills and situations against another player."
Mission accomplished.
The teams went back and forth throughout a picturesque morning in Foxborough, and each side had its share of success. The Patriots offense operated on the field to the right, while the defense took on the Colts offense on the left field.
Drake Maye's performance was a bit uneven, but at times he looked to be finding his trademark rhythm. That was the case when he looked toward A.J. Brown, Romeo Doubs and Hunter Henry. Doubs continues to build on the momentum he's been building in recent practices, and he showcased his strong hands on a couple of occasions.
One came on a deep fade down the right sideline from Maye, when he snatched the ball behind the defender for what would have been a solid gain. He also did a great job of shaking loose with a quick in-and-out move for a touchdown in the red zone.
Rhamondre Stevenson was also a huge presence in the passing game, twice getting loose for touchdowns to help beat blitzes from the Colts defense each time. Stevenson is a matchup problem for any linebacker and Maye was able to find him on a wheel route touchdown on what may have been the play of the day for the Patriots, and one that elicited plenty of emotion from Vrabel.
Maye's day did not end well, however, as he underthrew an open DeMario Douglas in the end zone and was picked off by safety Cam Bynum. The play came at the end of a choppy two-minute drill that began with 1:12 on the clock from the Patriots 39.
Maye got away with a shaky decision to start that drive, hitting Douglas while throwing across his body over the middle to avoid a would-be sack. After scrambling for a first down, Maye was forced to move back 5 yards following a false start penalty. Two plays later from the Colts 27 with 24 seconds left, Maye undershot Douglas to end the drive.
"It's great to get out there and just see it and react," Maye said of the work against Indy. "It was second-and-13, I think, and I took a shot at the end zone. I thought we picked up some first downs, and the guys up front did a good job of creating a pocket. I just have to finish better in the two minute and that's on me."
The defense was without a handful of important pieces as Christian Gonzalez, Christian Barmore and Carlton Davis did not take any reps against the Colts. Gonzalez has been a full participant throughout camp, but on Monday he appeared to be favoring his left foot/ankle following a play trying to defend Doubs in the end zone. He walked off whatever was bothering him at the time, but he was not spotted on Tuesday.
Davis, who returned to practice on Monday after missing more than a week, was in uniform but did not take part in any of the work against the Colts. Same was true for Barmore.
"It's a long season," Vrabel said of Barmore. "He's played a lot of football. We just have to make sure we're smart about what we're doing right now."
Charles Woods also returned after missing the last two days, but like Barmore and Davis, was limited. That left the secondary thin as Kindle Vildor and Kobee Minor were with the first group. Undrafted rookie Channing Canada took Minor's spot during the second series. The Colts were without top wideout Alec Pierce, but there was an interesting matchup between slot receiver Josh Downs and Marcus Jones.
Jones had a terrific pass breakup early, but Downs was quite active throughout the day. He closed the Colts two-minute drill with an easy touchdown on an out route from the 5 that shook Jones. Daniel Jones got his team in position with three straight completions to tight end Tyler Warren, the last of which saw the tight end break wide open downfield for a 30-yard hookup.
Beyond the back-and-forth action between the Patriots and Colts, here are one man's observations from Day 14 of training camp.
-- Harold Landry (PUP) and Brenden Schooler (NFI) remain out. "Continuing to improve," Vrabel said of Landry. "We don't want to rush anything. We want to give him every opportunity to get back and feel good and feel confident before we start his clock and take him off the PUP list."
-- In addition to Gonzalez, safety Mike Brown, long snapper Julian Ashby and wide receiver Riley Dixon were not spotted on the fields. Ashby and Dixon both missed Monday's workout as well, and reports indicated Ashby may be dealing with an ankle injury, which led to the signing of long snapper Niko Lalos.
-- One update off the Caedan Wallace transaction from Monday. The Patriots and Dolphins executed a trade prior to Wallace's official release, with the Dolphins getting the guard and a 2029 seventh-round pick while the Patriots will receive a 2028 sixth-round pick in return.
-- Vrabel indicated that Maye most likely will not play against the Colts in the preseason opener Thursday night. That likely means backup Tommy DeVito will get the start, and he continues to impress. He started and ended his two-minute drive with a bomb to Mack Hollins for a 61-yard touchdown, hitting the wideout in stride behind the defense on the first play. DeVito also hit Kyle Williams on a deep ball earlier after the receiver split two defenders for a big gain. He showed good velocity in some red zone work, zipping a couple of throws into tight windows to rookie Eli Raridon. He appears to have a good grasp of Josh McDaniels' offense in his second year in the system.
-- Safety John Saunders ended the two-minute drive for the Colts second unit when he picked off a pass that deflected off a pair of Colts receivers near the goal line. Indy, led by second-year quarterback Riley Leonard, had trouble maintaining any momentum on the drive as a pair of procedural penalties pushed them back before the pick.
-- Officials were on hand for the first time this summer as a pair of crews worked on both fields. Alex Kemp and Land Clark were the referees leading their respective crews.
-- Andy Borregales got off to a strong start in the field goal department before ending with a pair of misses. He connected on five kicks ranging from 32 to 48 yards but missed wide right on a pair of 50-yarders to close the drill.
-- The teams did a good job of competing without venturing into the physical altercations that occasionally present themselves during joint practices. There were a couple of minor skirmishes, one of which came at the end of a Patriots kickoff drill when blocking continued along the Colts sideline. Backup defensive end Durell Nchami wasn't in the drill but appeared to throw a punch before the sides were quickly separated. Kayshon Boutte and Downs were spoken to by the officials for what was deemed excessive talking after catching touchdowns as well, but the practice continued without any further incidents.
-- In addition to Maye, Milton Williams, Dell Pettus, DeVito and Efton Chism all spent time chatting with the media after practice.
-- The Patriots will conduct a closed walkthrough on Wednesday before the preseason game Thursday night. The next training camp session open to the public will take place on Wednesday, August 19th in the Patriots first joint practice with the Philadelphia Eagles at 10:15 am with gates set to open at 9:15 a.m. As always, please check with Patriots.com for the latest schedule changes throughout training camp.
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