Patriots training camp notebook: Joint practice with the Commanders on Day 12 – 98.5 The Sports Hub

Not all training camp practices hold the same weight, and on Wednesday the New England Patriots had one of their most important practices of the summer. They hosted the Washington Commanders for a joint practice, their lone such session before the preseason opener on Friday night.

Joint practices allow coaches to evaluate the team and individual players against another team – creating new schemes and matchups – while still being in the controlled environment of a practice. They also allow teams to run more advanced versions of their offense without putting it on tape, instead of the more stripped-down playbooks typically used in preseason games.

If Wednesday truly was the biggest measuring stick of the summer so far for the Patriots, they passed the test. On both sides of the football they looked like they had the edge against a team that played in the NFC Championship a year ago.

The Patriots’ success in this practice started with the quarterback. We’ll begin there with today’s notebook…

After a few rough practices of situational football, the offense did much better in a high-intensity setting on Wednesday – led by their quarterback. Drake Maye truly looked comfortable and in control during this practice, keeping the ball moving and off the ground.

The biggest thing for Maye, which has been an area of growth all summer, is how much quicker he’s operating now than he was starting in the spring. At times on Wednesday Maye had to be his own best pass protection, and he was by maneuvering in the pocket and getting the ball out of his hands quickly.

Standing in the way of Maye and a totally ideal day was a late-practice interception. He tried to thread the needle to Pop Douglas over the middle in the red zone, but Bobby Wagner jumped into the window and knocked the ball up in the air. Mike Sainristil intercepted the ball off the deflection.

Overall though, it was a positive day for Maye. He finished 14-of-21, but those numbers could have been even better if not for some micues by his receivers.

The one thing that stood out immediately about the Patriots’ receivers – they were getting open. Up and down the depth chart players were creating separation, with Pop Douglas at the top of that list. Mack Hollins also repeatedly got away from his defender, continuing to look strong less than a week off the PUP list.

However, that separation didn’t always turn into completions. Hollins had two drops, as did running back TreVeyon Henderson (including one that would have been a breadbasket touchdown pass on a wheel route from Drake Maye). Douglas had one clear drop as well.

Kayshon Boutte caught a highlight touchdown pass, despite having little separation. He showed good chemistry with Maye, connecting on a back-shoulder throw on the front pylon with excellent timing.

It was a quieter day for Stefon Diggs, who wasn’t on the field for the first portion of practice for an unknown reason. He joined the team about 30 minutes in and resumed working with the offense from there after going through a stretching period on his own.

On the second unit, Javon Baker caught a touchdown on a slant from Joshua Dobbs. He also pulled away from former Patriots cornerback Jonathan Jones on a go route, but was just overthrown by Dobbs on that rep. Baker continues to build momentum as he pushes for a potential sixth wide receiver spot, and will be one of the top players to watch in Friday’s game.

Wednesday represented one of the first major tests for tackle Will Campbell, and the Patriots’ top draft pick showed up. He had a solid showing in 1-on-1s, and didn’t get beat cleanly during team drills.

One thing that has stood out about Campbell over the last few days is he seems to be doing a better job of countering rush moves that were giving him trouble earlier in camp. For example, at one point Deatrich Wise tried to go by him with an outside-in move – the kind of move that gave Campbell the most trouble going back to college – and while Wise won initially Campbell was able to recover and shut him down before he got far enough into the backfield where he could create pressure.

The tests will only get tougher for Campbell moving forward, but Wednesday was a good step for the rookie. We’ll see if the Commanders throw anything new at him as long as he’s on the field on Friday night.

Another practice, and more changes on the Patriots’ top offensive line. Wednesday saw updates at right tackle and center.

At right tackle, Morgan Moses did not participate in practice. For most of the summer Demontrey Jacobs has gotten those reps when Moses has been limited, but he split those with rookie Marcus Bryant on Wednesday. Those two have been the Patriots two top tackles all summer, and in recent practices they’ve split playing both the left and right sides. Both struggled against Washington, highlighting potential issues with the Patriots’ tackle depth – which will definitely be something to watch on Friday night.

In the other change, Ben Brown took some snaps at center in front of Drake Maye in place of Garrett Bradbury. At the same time his second-team snaps decreased a bit after he’d been playing left guard next to center Cole Strange earlier in the week.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Patriots had a very strong showing. The most noticeable element of that was how few open receivers Jayden Daniels had to throw to – without the Patriots’ two top corners on the field in Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis.

Of the defensive backs, Alex Austin appeared to have the best day. He had two pass breakups, including one in the end zone on fourth down in a red zone period. It was also a good day for Kyle Dugger, who was back with the top defense.

The Patriots were also able to get in Jayden Daniels’ face, especially in the red zone. Christian Barmore, Khyiris Tonga, and Harold Landry had strong days up front.

The Patriots did work a kicker period into Wednesday’s practice. John Parker Romo missed his first field goal of the summer, nudging one just left from 39 yards out. He went 3-of-4 while rookie Andres Borregales continued his hot streak, going 4-of-4 while maxing out at 52 yards.

They weren’t truly ‘fights’ but there were two instances in practice where the teams had to be separated. Neither was enough to truly stop practice or get players ejected, but they were certainly notable.

In the first one, Kayshon Boutte and Commanders cornerback Marshon Lattimore had to be separated after a play. A few snaps later, TreVeyon Henderson mixed it up with a pass rusher, and both went to the ground. More players then jumped on top of the pile, before things were pulled apart.

For both instances, Mike Vrabel was among the first in trying to break things up. That led to him ending up on the bottom of the pile himself on the second one, and coming up bleeding from his cheek.

The Patriots did not have any new absences on Wednesday. Christian Gonzalez, Carlton Davis, K’Lavon Chaisson, Jahlani Tavai, Caedan Wallace, and Kendrick Bourne all missed practice.

The Patriots will be off on Thursday. On Friday they host the Commanders at Gillette Stadium in the preseason opener at 7:00 p.m. ET. Coverage can be heard on 98.5 The Sports Hub and the Patriots Radio Network starting at 4:30.