After four straight days of work, the Patriots finally put the pads on Friday and turned practice into a full scrimmage behind Gillette Stadium. With the roster split into blue and white and the coaching staff divided up as well, the session gave New England a different kind of look - and DeMario Douglas made the most of it.
The attendance sheet was busy. Carlton Davis III, Will Campbell, Christian Barmore, Charles Woods, Caedan Wallace, Cameron Dorner and Reggie Gilliam were all absent, while Kyle Dixon was listed as injured. Mike Vrabel said Friday that Davis will be out through next week’s preseason game, while Campbell is expected back to start next week.
The Patriots also worked without Barmore and Woods after both left practice early Thursday. Gilliam’s workload continues to be managed. Dixon left the scrimmage early with a trainer, and rookie offensive tackle Caleb Lomu briefly stepped away because of what appeared to be an equipment issue.
The scrimmage itself was built around a simple setup: Team White and Team Blue were drafted by Terrell Williams and Tony Dews, with just two roster rules in place. Drake Maye and center Jared Wilson had to stay together, and Mack Hollins and Efton Chism had to remain a pair.
That left Team Blue with a skill-heavy group that included A.J. Brown, Christian Gonzalez, Milton Williams, Douglas, Hollins, Chism, Rhamondre Stevenson, Hunter Henry, Marcus Jones, Craig Woodson and Kevin Byard.
Team White leaned into the trenches, putting Caleb Lomu, Andrew Rupcich, Jared Wilson, Mike Onwenu and Morgan Moses in front of Maye, while Maye mostly worked with Kayshon Boutte, Kyle Williams, TreVeyon Henderson and Eli Raridon. Dre’Mont Jones and Gabe Jacas helped lead the pass rush.
As for the coaching setup, quarterbacks coach Ashton Grant and safeties coach Scott Booker handled Team White, while wide receivers coach Todd Downing and cornerbacks coach Justin Hamilton were with Team Blue.
The early edge belonged to Tommy DeVito and Douglas. DeVito, who turned 27 on Friday, helped Team Blue jump ahead with a slant touchdown to Douglas on his second drive, then later connected with him again on a corner route when the ball was placed in the red area.
Douglas wasn’t done there. On the first snap of two-minute work, he streaked up the seam, got behind the defense and ripped off a gain of more than 50 yards to immediately set up a field goal chance.
DeVito also hit A.J. Brown on a play-action slant, found Hollins on a downfield flea-flicker and completed two rhythm throws to Chism.
Maye’s side started slower. His first two drives ended in punts after multiple throwaways, but he settled in after that. He then led an eight-play scoring drive that included a seam throw to Eli Raridon, a fourth-down conversion to Nick DeGennaro and a touchdown on a play-action crosser to Romeo Doubs.
Maye finished strong in the red zone and in two-minute work. He needed only one throw in the red area, hitting TreVeyon Henderson for a touchdown on a corner route.
Later, with 1:05 left, he moved the offense into field goal range with a mix of check-downs and a chunk completion to Kyle Williams over the middle. Vrabel had given Williams notable praise before practice.
There were a few other notable pieces from the scrimmage. With Campbell out, Caleb Lomu worked at left tackle for Team White and Morgan Moses lined up on the right side.
Because Moses was limited, James Hudson took snaps at right tackle. Team Blue’s line featured Marcus Bryant, Alijah Vera-Tucker, Ben Brown, JonDarius Morgan and Dametrious Crownover.
Rookie tight end Eli Raridon caught three passes while working with Maye, including one explosive seam route and two check-downs that helped start the two-minute drive.
One of the most eye-catching plays of the day came when Tejhaun Palmer had a pass bobbled into the air and Myles Montgomery snatched it for a gain of around 40 yards. That explosive play helped Behren Morton’s first drive end with a field goal. Morton’s second series went the other way, finishing with a bad snap, a sack and a near interception by Khalil Jacobs.
On defense, Gabe Jacas kept showing up off the edge for Team White, including an early pressure against Dametrious Crownover and at least half a sack later alongside Leonard Taylor III, who also got a batted pass. UDFA pass rusher Xavier Holmes added a sack and a pass breakup.
Joshua Farmer kept stacking strong moments with two more run stuffs. Kindle Vildor had two early pass breakups on A.J. Brown, and Brandon Crossley, Marcus Jones and Channing Canada also knocked away passes in the secondary.
Andy Borregales finished 4-of-5 on field goals, with the longest appearing to be 54 yards, and he made 1-of-2 extra points.
The Patriots are off this weekend and will return to work Monday for a 10:15 a.m. ET practice that will be closed to the public. Indianapolis comes to town Tuesday.
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