FOXBORO, Mass. — When Mike Vrabel finally emerged from a pile of players fighting over the typical things NFL players fight about during a joint practice, he had blood dripping from his cheek.
The New England Patriots players looked at their coach a bit confused. It’s rare to see an NFL head coach end up at the bottom of a skirmish. They pointed out his bleeding cheek to him.
“You should see the other guy,” Vrabel quipped to one player. To another, he said, “Don’t worry, we’ll see it on film.” He calmly grabbed a towel and wiped off the blood.
Drake Maye said he almost got involved in the scrum when Vrabel was in the pile pic.twitter.com/FbfRyQyjpu
— Mark Daniels (@ByMarkDaniels) August 6, 2025
If nothing else, Wednesday’s joint practice, the first of camp, served as the strongest indicator yet of how much has changed with the Patriots. It offered the best example of how things are improving under Vrabel.
Their head coach was diving into a dogpile to break up a fight. Their quarterbacks were making plays. Their defense was holding its own against a talented offense. Most importantly, they didn’t get pushed around and had a slight leg up on both sides of the ball against a Washington Commanders team that went to the NFC Championship Game last season.
A year ago, a dreadful practice against the Philadelphia Eagles was so one-sided that it was hard to watch and foreshadowed the struggles that would come in a second straight 4-13 season. This time, the Patriots put together one of their best practices of the last two years (which, to be fair, isn’t saying much).
It would be unwise to put too much stock into a single practice when the starters got maybe 30 snaps, which is around half of a game. That’s especially fair to note considering this roster is probably still below average, even after Vrabel’s free-agent spending spree and general overhaul this offseason. And the Pats could still go to Minnesota next week, where they have a pair of practices scheduled, and get smoked by the Vikings. In all likelihood, the Commanders will still end up the better team this season.
But it’s also fair to say this Patriots team finally looks competent and well-run for the first time in a couple of years.
“I love what we did today,” receiver Demario Douglas said.
“Everything is not as good as it looks or as bad as it looks — but it’s a good feeling that it looked good,” running back Antonio Gibson said.
Josh McDaniels’ offense took what the Commanders defense gave it. The unit still cannot make the big plays that are required from a top offense, and there are still talent concerns (there were way too many dropped passes Wednesday). But the goal is incremental improvement, and this offense looks noticeably better than last year’s, even if it’s still not one of the 15 best units in the league. It finally has some semblance of explosiveness with rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson, who continues to cut into Rhamondre Stevenson’s first-team reps. And it has cut back on interceptions from Drake Maye while encouraging easy passes in the short and intermediate game to stay on schedule.
Receiver Kayshon Boutte has been a big part of that. He had the catch of the day for the Patriots and continues to stand out. Mack Hollins made a few impressive grabs himself, but he also had a couple of drops. And Douglas continues to look like the perfect fit to rack up catches over the middle.
“I don’t want to give any predictions, but I pray that’s how it goes,” Douglas said.
Meanwhile, a Patriots defense without its best player (Christian Gonzalez) held up OK against the Commanders, who were without their top receiver, Terry McLaurin. Washington ran the ball well (especially to the outside, a potential source of concern for the Pats) and Jayden Daniels still made some incredible plays, showing why he was the league’s top rookie quarterback last year. Maye admitted Wednesday that it’s “always in the back of your mind, the draft class you came in with,” and that he’s trying to keep pace.
But at the same time, the Patriots got a decent pass rush from Christian Barmore and Milton Williams, and the secondary performed well, too.
All of it added to an impressive practice and a feeling that Foxboro was rejuvenated after several years of being in the wilderness.
Wow. pic.twitter.com/YeJVSm23DI
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) August 6, 2025
Fans lined up, several deep, across the railings of the stadium for a peek at their team. The star power was back, too. Jayson Tatum of the Celtics stopped by. Jon Bon Jovi walked the sideline. Finally, there was a buzz of excitement surrounding this team.
A year ago, there was tepid optimism, too, before the Eagles rolled into town for joint practices. They were still a few months from lifting the Lombardi Trophy and blew the doors off Jerod Mayo’s Patriots.
There was every chance that could’ve happened to Vrabel’s team on Wednesday.
Instead, the coach was left bleeding while trying to protect his players, and the Patriots looked like they were finally trending in the right direction.
It was just one impressive practice, but at their most important get-together of the summer so far, the Patriots looked like a competent, well-run team.
And in a season where progress is the main goal — avoiding the stuff that will get you beat, as Vrabel might put it — they looked to be on their way to achieving that.
(Photo of Mike Vrabel with Von Miller and Jayson Tatum: Eric Canha / Imagn Images)
