On Wednesday, the Patriots held their first practice of the training camp season, as the organization starts fresh with their third different head coach in three years in Mike Vrabel.
While much of the focus this offseason has been around the Patriots Hall of Fame linebacker rebuilding a championship culture at 1 Patriot Place in his second stint as a head coach in the NFL, training camp finally allows us the opportunity to see those figurative building blocks at work.
And with the Patriots’ roster chock-full of newbies expected to be impact players on both sides of the football, this training camp - in particular - stands out against others league-wide.
How will Milton Williams look next to a healthy Christian Barmore?
Will Stefon Diggs look like the Diggs-of-old coming off a torn ACL last October?
Can Will Campbell be a standout at left tackle from the jump, despite his much-discussed 32 and ⅝ inch arm length?
We’ll start having answers to all of these questions once the pads get on in a few days. But for now, let’s talk about a big play from a rookie receiver with a chance to be a real contributor this fall:
22-year-old Kyle Williams.
During 11-on-11 drills in period 11, second-year quarterback Drake Maye saw the Washington State-product in one-on-one coverage with All-Pro cornerback Christian Gonzalez.
Instead of looking elsewhere given the caliber of coverage, Maye challenged the third-year corner with a backside toss to Williams.
The 5-foot-11 wideout positioned his body perfectly, coming back to the ball on the left sideline and making the play of the day.
“Yeah, Kyle - I think he was backside one-on-one with [Christian Gonzalez],” said Maye. “He made a big-time catch, strong hands. I told him to maybe sell it a little more, just try to give him a go-route feel. But I think he's coming along. He's looking good.
“I told Gonzo earlier - I'm going to come at Gonzo. I'm not going to, you know, backside. I'm not going to leave him out here bored at practice. So good for a rookie to make a play like that. And I think he is just going to get better and better.”
We all know the type of player Gonzalez is on Sundays. This play is no indictment on him as a player. Plus, it’s only day one. No need to panic.
But for a young third-round pick like Williams to make a big play against the team’s best defensive player in front of full stands to open camp, that has to do wonders for pick No. 69’s confidence early on.
And more importantly, it’s an important rep for Maye and Williams to build on as trust develops between the two.
Other takeaways from the first day of camp:
- Maye was 8 of 9 during the team periods with one near-pick to Jabrill Peppers. But nestled within those nine pass attempts were four would-be sacks for the defense, which would have been attributed to Keion White, K’Lavon Chaisson, Christian Elliss, and the team.
So while you love those accuracy numbers from Maye, it’s hard to ignore those would-be sacks given how much the offensive line has struggled for New England the last few seasons.
Without even being asked specifically about the O-line, Maye made sure to have their back during his opening statement post-practice.
“Thought the guys up front fought,” said Maye. “It's hard to block without pads, but I thought they did a good job.”
- The above quote speaks to Maye continuing to develop as a leader, which the North Carolina-product was asked multiple questions about after practice.
And when Maye was asked about developing trust with new teammates throughout the spring and summer, he showed yet another example of why Vrabel feels comfortable empowering his 22-year-old QB to be the face of the franchise.
“I think there's certain players that have trust right when they come in,” said Maye. “Garrett Bradbury and [Morgan Moses] up front. Guys like that have been in this league and played a bunch of starts. Mack Hollins, Hunter Henry, those guys, you trust like, trust is basically, it's me kind of earning my trust with them. It's me really kind of earning their trust. And me kind of making them feel like they can trust that guy back there. I think those guys already have it built in with what they've done this league.”
It’s not false humility, either. This isn’t something out of the Russell Wilson playbook. You get the sense that Maye knows he still has a long way to go, and wants to do everything in his power to get to that next level as a player and leader for his football team.
- Only two 11-on-11 periods on the day, which is typical of how training camps operate early on. As we get deeper into camp and we start to see more of these team periods unfold, there will be more meat on the analysis bone for us to work with. When most of the 12 periods are individual skill group-focused, there’s just not as much to go off of for big picture “takes,” if you will.
- Diggs looked smooth on the field, both during individual drills and in team drills.
The former All-Pro was approved to be a “full-go” for training camp just this week as the 31-year-old makes his return from ACL surgery last fall.
Despite the faster-than-normal return to the football field, Diggs is not lacking in confidence with his body.
“I feel like the worst has already happened,” said Diggs. “I hurt my knee already. I went through that already. So, as far as taking those mental jumps? I took those in my rehab process.
“I took it that serious - that if something’s going to happen, it’s going to happen right now, not when I get back to playing football. So, I’m not too concerned with the what-ifs.”
For more on the connection between Diggs and Maye, check out Meghan Ottolini’s column from Wednesday on WEEI.com.
Gates for the public on day two of training camp open at 9:15 a.m. ET on Thursday. Admission is free.
Jones and Keefe broadcast live overlooking the practice fields at Gillette all throughout training camp. The Home of Patriots Monday and Friday has training camp covered on the WEEI Network and WEEI.com.