Pats Pulpit
The New England Patriots and Minnesota Vikings were back on the TCO Performance Center practice fields in Eagan, MN, on Thursday for their second joint practice of the week. From a Patriots perspective, this one did not go as well as the first.
You can recap all the action here. As for our traditional rundown of who caught our eyes for better or worse, it looks as follows.
Offensive line: For the first 15 practices of training camp, we always recognized a positive performance as our standout of the day. But, you can also stand out for all the wrong reasons — which is precisely what New England’s offensive line did on Thursday. So, here we are.
Obviously, the group’s inexperience especially on the left side did not help; rookie tackle Will Campbell had a bad day that included three sacks given up in an 11-play span at one point, while guard Ben Brown was unexpectedly inserted into the starting lineup following Jared Wilson’s exit. Also not helping was the fact that Minnesota’s defense is simply pretty darn good.
Still, the unit as a whole had a rough outing and put forward a performance than can best be described as unacceptable: even considering the at-times unfavorable circumstances, the crew needs to perform better than it did in order for New England to have a functioning offense. On Thursday, the team barely had that. And as Patriots fans know all too well from the last two years in particular, things can go downhill fast when the blocking is not up to the task.
QB Joshua Dobbs: One day after being singled out for his struggles, Dobbs finds himself on our list again. This time, because the Patriots’ backup quarterback showed some mental toughness and playmaking ability. While he was still impacted by some of the same blocking issues mentioned above, the 30-year-old also manage to make some of New England’s best plays of the day and threw four touchdown passes in red area work.
WR Efton Chism III: The undrafted rookie has become a regular on our list of noteworthy performances, and for good reason. Chism continues to show why he is deserving of consideration as a backup wide receiver option. On Thursday, he caught a pair of touchdowns from Joshua Dobbs and also won both of his 1-on-1s. While he has yet to fully crack the top rotation, the arrow keeps pointing up.
DT Christian Barmore and DT Milton Williams: Reunited at last, sort of. After sitting out team work on Wednesday, Barmore was back as a full participant and immediately made his presence felt; he was the most disruptive player on the defensive side of the ball and was charted with two sacks in team drills. Williams also pushed the pocket well, even though his highlight of the day was a dominant 1-on-1 rep rather than any flashy work in 11s.
CB Marcus Jones: Matching up Marcus Jones with...
