Patriots hold final training camp practice open to public, working on red zone before heading to Minnesota

CBS News

2 days ago

The New England Patriots held their 13th and final "open to the public" training camp practice Sunday at the Gillette Stadium practice fields in Foxboro.
With sunshine and temperatures in the low 80s, nearly 8,000 fans were on hand for the two-hour workout. The Patriots were in shorts and shells.
Here are some notes, thoughts and observations:
Attendance:
Not Practicing
CB Christian Gonzalez (Head coach Mike Vrabel made it sound like he will make the trip to Minnesota, but won't take part in the joint practices with the Vikings Wednesday and Thursday) RB Lan Larison (placed on IR per @dougkyed after he was hurt injured in Friday's pre-season game against Washington)WR Ja'Lynn Polk (injured Friday's pre-season game) S Josh Minkins RB Rhamondre Stevenson LB Jahlani Tavai WR Kendrick Bourne LB Elijah Ponder
**DT Christian Barmore - side work
Returning to Practice
LB K'Lavon Chaisson OG Sidy Sow OT Caedan Wallace
Leaving Practice
TE Hunter Henry CB DJ James (appeared to be grabbing his upper left leg leaving the field) LB Marte Mapu OT Marcus Bryant
Vrabel was asked prior to practice Sunday about jumping into the scrum Wednesday during a joint practice with Washington, when he ended up with a cut on his cheek.
"I didn't show the team. They all looked at it, obviously, in their meeting rooms because guys were laughing at me. I realized that Will [Campbell] and I were thinking the same thing, just trying to get the second guy off and TreVeyon and they're wrestling around - I just don't want anything to happen to anybody. My job is to try to break those up and I don't mind doing it, and that's kind of how it went," he told reporters.
As for what would be worked on in practice Sunday, Vrabel said,
"We'll be in the red zone. We know how critical that is. We didn't get a stop defensively in the red zone. We did a nice job offensively in the red zone, but defensively it wasn't very good. So, again, we like coming off these days off in the red zone. Shorter space for the players, but it's still a critical area where you need precision and speed, it's just not maybe long speed."
The Patriots current offensive line:
LT Campbell LG Wilson C Bradbury RG Onwenu RT Moses/Bryant/D Jones
The Patriots did spend a good amount of time working in the red zone. The defense looked fired up and played that way.
* There were some noticeable pass break-ups from Marcus Jones, Miles Battle, Craig Woodson, Carlton Davis (notable how good he is), and Alex Austin. On one particular pass targeted for Efton Chism, Austin made a strong play to deny it. Vrabel came right over to congratulate him.
* One thing to keep an eye on... rookie S Craig Woodson saw lots of reps with the 1s and he continues to impress. Kyle Dugger had reps with the 1s and 2s.
* For Drake Maye and the offense, they weren't as sharp as they have been in previous practices. On one particular red zone play, Maye overthrew Mack Hollins and the quarterback slapped his right leg in frustration. And on the final play of the day, a "gotta have it" on the 14 yard line with one second to play, Diggs had a ball go through his hands. There was also a bad snap/fumble with Garrett Bradbury at center, some miscommunication that led to incompletions, a timeout needed when players weren't on same page on a play call, and a near interception by Woodson.
It was one of the best plays of training camp when Josh Dobbs - on a two-point conversion attempt - tried to throw a high pass in the end zone to Efton Chism. Both Chism and defender Marcus Jones jumped sky high for it. Chism proceeded to outmuscle the game Jones for it as they both crashed hard to the turf. it was yet another example of what Vrabel calls Chism's "play strength" on display. After 6 catches for 50 yards and a touchdown Friday night, Chism continues to stack impressive performances together.
Some other highlights on offense:
In 7-on-7 play, Maye hit Stefon Diggs, Chism, Hollins and Kayshon Boutte for touchdowns.
In 11-on-11 work, Maye hit Boutte for a TD (looked like Peppers congratulated him after it) and Hollins.
Dobbs had TD passes to Chism and Hollins and a two point conversion pass to TE Cole Fotheringham, although it looked like Vrabel called a holding penalty.
The Patriots will practice Monday (closed to public) and then travel to Minnesota for joint practices with the Vikings Wednesday and Thursday.
Preseason game 2 is Saturday at 1 p.m. at US Bank Stadium and you can watch it live on WBZ-TV.
Also, Sunday night on Sports Final at 11:35 p.m. on WBZ with Steve Burton, ESPN's Mike Reiss will be in-studio and we'll go 1-on-1 with safety Craig Woodson.