Pats Pulpit
Following their preseason opener on Friday night and a day off on Saturday, the New England Patriots were back to work on Sunday. The final open session of the summer was a lighter but still highly competitive one.
Here is what went down on the fields behind Gillette Stadium.
Attire: Shorts, shoulder pads
Duration: ca. 90 minutes (10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. ET)
Conditions: Sunny, temperatures in the mid 80s
Coming off their first game of the year and with a pair of joint practices on the schedule later this week, the Patriots decided to wear only their shoulder pads on Sunday. The practice also featured a heavy focus on the red zone, an area head coach Mike Vrabel was not quite happy about coming out of the Patriots’ 48-18 win over the Commanders.
“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,” he said prior to practice, seemingly challenging the unit to bounce back. “So, again, we like coming off these days 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.”
Not participating: CB Christian Gonzalez, WR Ja’Lynn Polk, S Josh Minkins, RB Lan Larison, RB Rhamondre Stevenson, WR Kendrick Bourne, LB Elijah Ponder
Returned: LB K’Lavon Chaisson, OL Sidy Sow, OL Caedan Wallace
Departed: OT Marcus Bryant, CB D.J. James, LB Marte Mapu, TE Hunter Henry
In their return to the practice field, New England saw a handful of new non-participants including Ja’Lynn Polk, Josh Minkins, Elijah Ponder and running backs Lan Larison and Rhamondre Stevenson. After wearing a walking boot post game, Larison is expected to land on injured reserve while Mike Vrabel shared that neither Polk nor Christian Gonzalez will practice this week.
New England then saw a handful of players depart Sunday’s session early. Marcus Bryant and D.J. James departed with trainers while Marte Mapu also was spotted in the medical shed and did not return. Hunter Henry left the practice field but did not seem to receive any medical attention.
The Patriots were also joined by a pair of new players. On offense, there was a new No. 30 — potentially running back Demeric Brown — with a No. 55 also participating on the defensive side of the ball.
Defense punches back: As Mike Vrabel pointed out before practice, the Patriots’ defense did not record a red zone stop in the preseason opener. With the focus on that part of the field on Sunday, New England’s defense responded by largely shutting down Drake Maye and the top offense.
In the final period near the goal line, Maye fired three straight incompletions; two of those were broken up by cornerbacks Marcus Jones and Carlton Davis. While Maye’s last pass was caught by Kayshon Boutte for an apparent touchdown, his final...
