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CBS News
2 minutes ago
- CBS News
Patriots joint practice takeaways: Big plays from Maye, but O-line struggles with Vikings pass rush
The New England Patriots held their first of two joint practices with the Vikings on Wednesday, as both teams hit the field at the Viking Lakes training facility in Eagan, Minnesota. It was a long session that saw New England's top teamers put in a lot of work against the Minnesota's talented squad. Ahead of the session, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel told us the focus in Wednesday's joint session was playing with an open field, specifically on second-and-long situations. Vrabel said the situational practice works wonders for both sides of the ball, as the offense looks to get back on track and set up a third-and-short while the defense looks to pin then further back. "For us, it's get back on track and try to get half the yardage to get to third and manageable," said Vrabel. "It's a great opportunity for us to see if they blitz, if they play zone, and what we need to do to keep them, defensively, in third and long." As they did in last week's lone joint practice with the Washington Commanders in Foxboro, the Patriots held their own against one of the NFC's best teams on Wednesday. Drake Maye had a good day against a very good Minnesota secondary despite feeling a lot of pressure, while the New England defense was able to apply its own pressure against Vikings QBs. Here are the big takeaways from the first of two joint practices between the Patriots and the Vikings, leading up to Saturday afternoon's preseason tilt on WBZ-TV. Maye had a solid day with some huge throws, including this beauty to former Viking Stefon Diggs. Maye-to-Diggs was nearly automatic on Wednesday, and the quarterback also had big throws to Mack Hollins (a 50-yard touchdown), Kayshon Boutte, and Pop Douglas. Diggs and Douglas both beat Minnesota top corner Byron Murphy on their highlight catches. Maye also checked down to TreVeyon Henderson on one play, and the explosive back turned the 10-yard reception into a 70-yard touchdown for the New England offense. Unofficially, Maye was 13-for-21 with two touchdowns and no picks, but the offense had its issues. Overall, Wednesday was a mixed bag for the New England offense. Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores sent a lot of different pressure looks at the Patriots O-line, and Maye found himself dealing with the Minnesota pass rush on a number of drop backs. He would have been sacked five or six times in the session, and the line was also flagged for two holds. The unit is going to have to be a lot better come game time. But when Maye had time, he made things happen on Wednesday. For the most part, he handled the pressure from Minnesota well. Now we'll see if the unit can make the necessary adjustments in Thursday's joint practice. Receiver Javon Baker made another case for a roster spot Wednesday with a long touchdown from Josh Dobbs. Veteran receiver Mack Hollins raced over and got vocal with Baker to celebrate the score. Hollins is a big energy guy, and he wants to see his teammates celebrate with each other after every big play. He felt the energy was lacking a bit after his long touchdown reception, and when he realized he was surrounded by Vikings defenders and not his teammates as he celebrated in the end zone, he punted the football into the crowd in hopes of giving his team an injection of energy. It drew an Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty, but Hollins believes it will be worth the price. "I saved up a couple of dollars so I can pay the fine," Hollins explained after practice. "I thought it could give us an energy boost. "Energy is important. What I learned from a great coach early in my career is, 'Execution fuels emotion.' If you're doing things right, usually the energy is pretty good," Hollins continued. "When you see good plays happening, up the energy. Sometimes you have to fake it until it's real, but then you get a play like TreVeyon's where a 2-minute drill doesn't have to go a full two minutes." We haven't seen much of New England's new No. 2 corner in padded practices, but he was out there Wednesday against the Vikings. The 28-year-old said he had a decent day, but he wants to "be more dominant." Davis didn't want to talk about whatever ailment has sidelined him in camp, but said the cautious approach is to make sure he doesn't suffer any setbacks along the way. "I'm good physically, just taking it day by day and making sure I'm not having any setbacks and going forward with my progress. I was out there in the team period and hopefully tomorrow, I'm out there for more," said Davis. Davis wouldn't put a percentage on his health and said he needs to work to get back into game shape. But he was adamant he'll be ready come Week 1. "Hell yeah," said Davis. "I'm ready to play right now." The usual suspects along the New England defensive line all got to Minnesota quarterbacks on Wednesday, with K'Lavon Chaisson, Keion White, Milton Williams, and Harold Landry all recording sacks, as well as Jeremiah Pharms and Anfernee Jennings. Safety Kyle Dugger was once again out with the second team during 11 vs. 11 drills, and he was flagged for a DPI during the session. Vrabel was asked about Dugger repping with the twos ahead of practice, specifically what Dugger has to do to get back with the top unit. "Just making sure that he's where he needs to be, and understanding the coverage concepts and everything we do -- keep working and keep progressing," said Vrabel. "A lot of this is the guys that have earned the right to take a look with that first unit." Vrabel said he would be using different lineups and pairings in practice, and said Dugger continues to bring it every day no matter who he lines up with. "His attitude has been great. He's had a long, long recovery in the offseason," said Vrabel. "He's been out there and has continued to get better and work. The more that he practices, the better he's going to feel. And the more he's going to translate on to the football field." As for the rest of the secondary on Wednesday, Marcus Jones came down with an interception and Kobee Minor recorded a pass break-up. Vrabel had a long list of names to rattle off when asked who wouldn't be partaking in this week's joint practices. Corner Christian Gonzalez, linebackers Marte Mapu and Jahlani Tavai, running back Rhamondre Stevenson, and receiver Kendrick Bourne won't practice against the Vikings. Tight end Hunter Henry didn't suit up Wednesday, but Vrabel said he'll have a chance to practice Thursday. Vrabel said Stevenson is dealing with an injury the running back suffered in Friday's preseason opener against Washington, but doesn't believe it's anything significant. Once players took the field, receiver Ja'Lynn Polk, running back Terrell Jennings, corner D.J. James, and linebacker Elijah Ponder didn't take part in the session. James has had an incredible camp and pulled down an interception against the Commanders, but was in shorts Wednesday in Minnesota. Tune in to Saturday's Patriots-Vikings preseason clash on WBZ-TV -- the television home of the New England Patriots. Pregame coverage kicks off at 12:30 p.m. with Patriots GameDay, the game is set for 1 p.m., and we'll wrap it all up with Patriots 5th Quarter after the game. And if you can't catch Patriots-Vikings in the afternoon, the game will air again Saturday night at 8 p.m. on WBZ-TV!
Associated Press
2 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones reveals cancer diagnosis and credits experimental drug
OXNARD, Calif. (AP) — Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones credited an experimental trial drug for successfully treating advanced melanoma as he disclosed his cancer diagnosis publicly for the first time. Jones revealed his illness in a documentary, 'America's Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys,' which will debut on Netflix next week. The 82-year-old Jones then told The Dallas Morning News how he was initially diagnosed in June 2010 and underwent two surgeries on his lung and two on his lymph nodes over the next 10 years after skin cancer cells metastasized to other parts of his body. 'I was saved by a fabulous treatment and great doctors and a real miracle (drug) called PD-1 (therapy),' Jones said. 'I went into trials for that PD-1, and it has been one of the great medicines. I now have no tumors.' First-year Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer described Jones' fight with cancer as an 'amazing story' and praised him for going public. 'I'm glad that Jerry shared it, just because I think it gives people hope,' Schottenheimer said Wednesday. 'It gives people the strength to say, 'OK,' you know, 'Hey, you can beat this.'' Schottenheimer, 51, used his last news conference of the Cowboys' nearly monthlong stay in Southern California to talk about his own cancer diagnosis. He underwent surgery in 2003 for thyroid cancer at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Then-Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder helped arrange Schottenheimer's treatment two years after firing his father, Marty Schottenheimer, as head coach. Brian Schottenheimer was Washington's quarterbacks coach during the 2001 season, the same year Snyder himself was treated for thyroid cancer. 'It doesn't discriminate against anybody,' Schottenheimer said. 'And mine was certainly less serious, but I was 28 when I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Nothing like Stage 4, nothing like what Jerry and other people have to go through. But you hear that word 'cancer,' and it scares the hell out of you.' ___ AP NFL:
New York Times
2 minutes ago
- New York Times
The good and bad for the Jets in two joint practices against the Giants
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — If anyone is declaring a 'winner' of the two joint practices between the Jets and Giants, it would probably be the Giants. But it wasn't domination, and there were other factors at play, specifically injuries on the Jets defense — a few key players were held out on Wednesday. The Jets had moments — on both sides of the ball — that foment optimism, and some that were reasons for concern. Advertisement Let's run through the good and the bad from the last two days… It's hard to really evaluate the running game in these settings since neither team is fully tackling, but the Jets running game built off its impressive performance against the Steelers. The passing game (at least with Justin Fields) wasn't going very far down the field on Tuesday or Wednesday, but they were making plays out of the backfield. Fields had a big run early in 11-on-11 drills on Wednesday a read-option play that was a legitimate big gain without any defenders in sight. Braelon Allen also ran for a 25-yard touchdown and had a few other nice runs. The Giants did get in the backfield a few times, including when edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux blew up a Breece Hall run, but I thought the offensive line mostly held its own in the run game — and that Allen was one of the most impressive guys on the field over two days. He had a nice catch on a wheel route on Tuesday too. It's not that Fields or the passing attack was out-and-out terrible, it was just a little … boring and ineffective. Either Fields isn't throwing it down the field on his own volition, or the Jets simply aren't asking him to. Most of his passes have been short, quick hitters — and when they were more toward the sideline or in the intermediate areas of the field on Wednesday, he wasn't especially accurate. Glenn didn't love a question about Fields' conservative approach to throwing the ball. 'He's progressing. He's progressing,' Glenn said. 'That's what he's doing, he's being a quarterback. I know everybody wants to see the long ball, but he's progressing. That's the simplest I could answer that question.' Justin Fields Jets On Wednesday, I had Fields getting sacked five times — a few the result of a talented Giants defensive line winning their matchups, a few the result of him holding onto the ball a little too long — and on at least four of them (as the play continued since quarterbacks can't be touched in these practices), the passes he threw fell incomplete anyway. Advertisement Removing those plays, Fields completed 7 of 11 passes in 11-on-11 drills. That included short completions or dump-offs to Allen and fullback Andrew Beck, and short passes on slants to Garrett Wilson, Brandon Smith (twice), Tyler Johnson and Jeremy Ruckert. He missed Wilson a couple times on inaccurate passes in the final move-the-ball period at the end of practice. Over two days, Fields completed 14 of 23 passes during 11-on-11 drills — 60.7 percent — which is around where he's been completion-percentage-wise over the course of his career in the regular season: 61.1 percent. Glenn said he challenged the offense after their 'up and down' day in Tuesday's practice and he felt like the group responded well on Wednesday other than the final two-minute drill in the move-the-ball period, which included three short completions, a sack, two incompletions and a false start penalty. Rookie wide receiver Arian Smith had the play of the day for the Jets offense on Wednesday, high-pointing a deep throw from Adrian Martinez. Smith has been trending up since the start of camp and it's going to be hard for the Jets to keep him off the field, especially since he brings a speed element nobody else in the wide receiver room offers. He had a cornerback beat against the Packers in the preseason opener too, but Adrian Martinez underthrew him. The Jets don't have anyone outside of Garrett Wilson who strikes any sort of fear into an opposing secondary; Smith's ascension could help him earn a bigger role than expected. .@ArianSmith2 got UP ⬆️ — New York Jets (@nyjets) August 13, 2025 Another under-the-radar standout throughout camp has been Brandon Smith. The 26-year-old has decent size (6-2, 218), has made plays all summer and is now getting some of the reps with Fields vacated by Allen Lazard, who is out for a couple weeks with a shoulder injury. He stood out as a blocker in the run game on Wednesday, too. If Smith can establish a role on special teams, he has a real shot at sticking around. Advertisement 'That's one guy that I probably haven't talked about enough,' Glenn said. 'But man, I like where he's at, and he's steadily improving on a daily basis. It's good when your younger guys are showing up because now it pushes the older guys that they got to get going, because this is going to be a team of the best of the guys who are going to be here and the guys that fit us.' The Jets defense did a good job against Russell Wilson and the Giants starters on Tuesday — other than in a red-zone drill at the end of practice. They struggled more during 11-on-11 drills most of the day on Wednesday, though that comes with a caveat: The Jets held out defensive end Jermaine Johnson (Achilles), defensive tackle Quinnen Williams (calf) and cornerback Sauce Gardner (calf soreness) from practice. The defense still had his moments — defensive tackle Jay Tufele had another sack, cornerback Brandon Stephens broke up a pass, and they stifled the Giants offense during the two-minute drill — but they definitely were missing that trio. Quarterback Brady Cook was held out of Wednesday's practice but Glenn said he'll play against the Giants on Saturday. Though Glenn wouldn't say whether starters will play this week. 'The plan is the plan,' is all Glenn would say about that. The Giants defensive line — powered by Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Abdul Carter and Dexter Lawrence — definitely won most of its battles with the Jets offensive line, though I don't view that necessarily as a negative. The Giants, for all their roster faults, have an elite group of pass rushers that is going to give the best offensive lines in the NFL trouble. Burns, in particular, was having his way with both Jets offensive tackles (Armand Membou on the right side, Olu Fashanu on the left). But this was a really good test going against a varied defensive line — one that moves its players all over the place to create havoc. The Jets' O-line needs to get used to uncomfortable settings — and going against a defensive line that, top to bottom, has more talent than the one they typically go against in practice, that's what they got the past two days. I tracked how the Jets did in one-on-one matchups between their offensive line and the Giants' defensive line. The most notable outcomes: Thibodeaux bull-rushed Membou and Carter beat him with speed; Lawrence trucked through center Josh Myers and Burns easily beat Fashanu. Center Joe Tippmann held up well, getting a dominant win against Rakeem Nunes-Roches, and backup tackle Max Mitchell actually acquitted himself nicely in a couple reps against Carter. On Saturday, the line looked stellar across the board against the Packers, especially in the run game. This still looks like the best offensive line the Jets have had in a long time. These joint practices against the Giants should ultimately serve them well in the long run. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
