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The Patriots’ last practice before Thursday’s preseason opener against Carolina was a soggy one filled with early miscues.
Running back Kevin Harris had a fumble, quarterback Jacoby Brissett dealt with a bad snap, and the pass rush produced multiple sacks.
Drake Maye started strong, but struggled at the end with an 0-4 stretch that included an interception.
Matthew Judon attended practice but did not participate in team drills. Coach Jerod Mayo announced that he plans to play all the Patriots’ quarterbacks, including Brissett and Maye, on Thursday. At long last, it’s time to see the Patriots hit against another team.
Here are five takeaways from Day 11 of training camp.
Maye will make his preseason debut on Thursday, said Mayo, who would not delve deeper into his plans for the rookie quarterback.
“Drake will play, and when he gets in the game, we’ll talk about that, but he will play in the game,” Mayo said. “Look, everyone who is healthy enough to play in the game will play in the game.”
Maye said he plans to start Brissett and added that Joe Milton and Bailey Zappe are expected to play as well.
“So, as of today, that’s the plan, to have all of those guys out there playing. Once again, it goes back to competing,” Mayo said. “So, yesterday, you guys saw the live tackling period and things like that, that I think is very important. You don’t want the first time these guys have to get hit or hit someone else to be in the preseason game. So, we’ve got to see what these guys can do with live action.”
Drake Maye threw back-to-back passes on fade routes during red zone drills that looked impressive. First he hit Kayshon Boutte for a score with tight coverage around him.
He hit Jaheim Bell on the very next pass, though it could be argued that Bell had a foot out of bounds.
Maye also had a stretch towards the end of practice where he had four-straight misses — an interception that bounced into rookie defensive back Marcellas Dial’s hands followed by three consecutive interceptions. Maye finished 7-14.
Matthew Judon was not active during team drills. He was on the sideline wearing a jersey and sweatpants, but no helmet.
Despite Judon’s unhappiness with his contract, Mayo said before the practice that he believed both sides were ready to move forward.
“Look, it was a hiccup,” Mayo said. “And I feel like we’re on the same page, and we’re moving forward.”
Judon missed a pair of practices last week, but had participated in three practices in a row before sitting out on Tuesday.
Jacoby Brissett launched a pass with serious heat on it towards Javon Baker who stretched out for a two-handed touchdown catch during 11-on-11s.
It was just the latest of several highlight-worthy catches during this camp from the fourth-round pick out of UCF.
“He’s a smooth killer right there, I’m not going to lie,” cornerback Isaiah Bolden said. “He’s smooth, I like his game, he’s very shifty. He’s going to be great. I love going against him. He has a little swagger to him. Guys like that, you love to go against them.”
In addition to the touchdown to Baker, Brissett hit KJ Osborn deep on a post route for a huge gain. He found Reagor in the end zone during red zone period. He did have his share of throws that were either too low or too high, but nothing too costly.
He finished 13-for-19, along with the botched snap.
Tyquan Thornton said he has been working through a soft-tissue-related injury that has limited his participation over the last couple of practices.
“Definitely feeling well,” Thornton said. “Kind of monitoring myself right now and just happy to be back out there for sure.”
Thornton, who was a second-round pick in 2022, says he’s looking forward to proving his doubters wrong. He has 35 catches for 338 yards and a pair of touchdowns in two seasons with the Patriots during which he’s missed a considerable amount of time due to injury.
“It definitely fuels that hunger,” Thornton said. “Two years in, I haven’t done anything basically, so Year 3 I definitely want to go out there and do good.”
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