FOXBOROUGH, Mass. --- As the New England Patriots officially put a bow on training camp in 2024, arguably the club's biggest question coming into the summer remains as such.
In this final training camp practice of the summer, Jerod Mayo's squad welcomed in the Philadelphia Eagles for a single joint practice before Thursday's preseason exhibition inside Gillette Stadium. One of the big storylines to monitor in this ramped-up session, in my eyes, was going to be the play of New England's offensive line. While the club made a free agent addition (Chukwuma Okorafor) and utilized a Day 2 draft pick (Caedan Wallace) to add a couple of tackles, there still were some questions about whether or not they have enough upfront to protect the likes of Jacoby Brissett and (at some point) No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye.
And Tuesday's developments didn't help alleviate those concerns.
With officials in attendance helping keep players honest, it wasn't a particularly strong day for the offensive line as both Brissett and Maye were routinely under siege by Philadelphia's rush during competitive 11-on-11 drills. With the mindset that training camp practices are supposed to be instructional for development as much as they are competitive drills, the inefficiency of the offensive line made 11s in particular ineffective from a quarterback standpoint. No matter if it was Okorafor, Wallace, Vederian Lowe or Calvin Anderson, leaks were abound for the Patriots tackle depth chart.
In one of the final periods of the session, as New England's offense was attempting to run a two-minute drill, Maye was almost instantly engulfed to the point where after a couple of scrambles it appeared as if the offense waived the white flag and the drills sort of dissolved. By my estimation, he would've been sacked on three of his four dropbacks in the period.
Again, this was arguably the top storyline when it came to the roster coming into training camp, and it feels like New England isn't close to finding its top-five linemen as it nears the start of the regular season. And if what we saw Tuesday is its top five, the offense is in a world of trouble.
Here are some other news and nuggets from Tuesday's practice:
How the QBs fared
While it was hard to gauge the play of Brissett and Maye -- who took essentially all of the competitive reps Tuesday -- due to the offensive line, there were some bright spots, specifically when it comes to the rookie. In the opening 7-on-7 drill of the day, Maye was dialed in, completing all six of his pass attempts, including what was the best throw I've seen from him all summer. Maye dropped back and fired a perfectly placed ball down the right sideline that sailed just over an Eagles defensive back and into the outstretched arms of Javon Baker.
By my count, Maye completed 12 of his 18 passes in competitive drills. Meanwhile, Brissett -- who continues to work as the presumptive Week 1 starter and behind the starting offensive line -- was 17 of 30 with two interceptions. That said, one of Brissett's picks wasn't entirely on him as the ball popped off of Austin Hooper's chest and into the arms of an Eagles defender in the end zone.
Meanwhile, Bailey Zappe and Joe Milton III saw essentially zero work in this joint practice as they each got under center for less than a handful of snaps in the closing minutes.
Young WRs flash
As we noted above, Javon Baker reeled in a fantastic pass from Maye, but that was hardly the only moment for him in this session. During 1-on-1 drills, Baker beat Eagles corner Avonte Maddox deep and Brissett was able to connect with him on a diving reception. As for New England's other rookie wideout, Ja'Lynn Polk, he dazzled a couple of times during the 1-on-1 period. First, Polk beat Eagles corner Shon Stephens on a deep ball from Maye. On top of getting a step on his defender, Polk was able to reel in the catch and secure the ball as he rolled into the end zone.
Dime 😮💨@DrakeMaye2 | @jpolk_22 pic.twitter.com/NtrmCD0tzc
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) August 13, 2024
Polk also showed some ability to win short as he faked out his defender on an in-cut.
Ja’Lynn Polk is cooking in 1-on-1s. pic.twitter.com/kNYnTswP53
— Tyler Sullivan (@TylerSully) August 13, 2024
Gonzalez holds his own against Philly's WRs
Defensively, the matchup I brought my popcorn for was Christian Gonzalez against the Eagles top two receivers, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. Gonzalez squared off with Brown primarily during 1-on-1s and held his own, winning two of his three matchups. Smith won both of his reps against Gonzalez in the 1-on-1s, but the Patriots corner was effective against him as they mostly duked it up during competitive team drills.
"He's a great player," Brown said of Gonzalez after practice. "I had picked him coming out like two years ago as the best DB in the draft. ... He gave me good work today."
Matt Judon keeps Eagles players honest
A learning moment for Nick Sirianni's team came during one of the competitive team drills courtesy of Matthew Judon, who was a full participant. At one point, the pass rusher ran down Eagles running back Saquon Barkley as he kept running toward the end zone after the whistle and punched the ball free just before he crossed the goal line.
Minor scuffle unfolds
While it was hardly a massive brawl, there was a bit of a dust-up during a kickoff drill. Patriots pass rusher Josh Uche and Eagles tight end E.J. Jenkins pushed and shoved after the play, which led the Eagles onto the field and towards the Patriots sideline where the confrontation occurred. The entire ordeal was quickly broken up and no players were ejected.
Before practice, head coach Jerod Mayo had a comical answer as to how he'd deal with fighting in this joint practice setting.
"I mean, look, you don't fight in a real game," he said. "If you fight in a real game, you get fined; you get kicked out. It's the same thing here. Look, my message to the players, if you get in a fight out here, if you're a starter, you're going to play the whole preseason game. If you're not a starter, you won't play at all. That's kind of my mindset with that."
Hunter Henry missing again
The Patriots tight end was again missing in action, marking the second consecutive day he's been sidelined. When asked about how long his absence may be, Mayo said before practice that he doesn't "anticipate it to be very long."
