Tuesday’s joint practice between the Patriots and Eagles was, by far and away, the most well-attended of the 14 days of training camp thus far on the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium.
Area fans were treated to an impressive offensive display, featuring an elite offensive line and some of the best skill-position players in the NFL.
I’m talking, of course, about Philadelphia, who is two years removed from a three-point loss in Super Bowl LVII to the Chiefs, and just added Pro Bowl running back Saquon Barkley to their arsenal this offseason.
What they have is what the Patriots used to have - a team loaded with veteran talent, ready to win now. They were the teachers during their 18 joint practices over the last dozen years.
On Tuesday, they were the students.
Head coach Jerod Mayo acknowledged the gap between the teams in his media availability before practice.
“What we do know is, you know, they’re a good football team,” said Mayo. “The expectations for that team are pretty high compared to where our expectations are from the outside looking in.”
“To have the Eagles come in - a great organization, great team, definitely will be a good measuring stick for us.”
Through the first seven periods of practice, the Patriots offense had flashes of greatness.
In the one-on-one and seven-on-seven periods against the Eagles defense, we saw multiple highlight catches from rookie Ja’Lynn Polk thrown by Maye. And in what was probably his best moment of the day, we saw a 25-yard sideline grab for rookie Javon Baker that was special - another ball thrown by Maye.
But when the red zone reps started in period eight, things took a turn for the worse.
This is when the offensive line joined the party.
Run-stuffs, flags, broken plays and incompletions ensued. And the most alarming stat of the day for New England - linemen allowed what-would-be 14 sacks between reps from Maye and Jacoby Brissett under center.
Eagles star defensive tackles Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter both lived up to their billing, making it difficult for the Patriots offense to get in a rhythm either through the air or on the ground.
A brutal showing for a line that is still trying to figure out who their starting five will be for Week 1 in Cincinnati.
Veteran center David Andrews told the media after practice that it’s the communication part of his unit’s game that needs the most work.
“Look, I can’t sit here and say it was great or bad,” said Andrews. “I thought we did some good things, but there’s obviously going to be some things we need to clean up.”
“I think we had one, kind of like a miscommunication on one play, you know. Which wasn’t a catastrophe, but you know obviously those are one of those things you want to clean up, you know? You get away with those sometimes, but that’s not a winning recipe. So there’s things like that here and there.”
Through the sloppy showing for the offensive line, Mayo held to his word that Maye was going to get a lot more reps this week. We saw almost no snaps during 11-on-11 periods from either Joe Milton or Bailey Zappe.
When asked how he would evaluate his own performance at practice, Maye said it was “up-and-down,” but there was a lot he could learn from.
“I think seven-on-seven, I threw the football well,” said Maye. “First team period was OK. Down here in the red zone, could’ve made a better throw to [Polk] on the slot-fade. Other than that, great reps. Great reps to learn from, great defense - they do a good job, and some big dudes up front, some different looks. So it’s a great learning experience.
“I think Coach Mayo preaches, ‘One play, and one play to the next,’ and, you know, don’t be a repeat-error guy. Coach Mayo always says that, especially the quarterback. So I try not to be that guy, and just try to - the next time I get a rep like that, try to make the right read.”
While Maye and the young receivers highlighted the early part of practice, two-time second-team All-Pro A.J. Brown dazzled throughout the day at wideout for Philadelphia.
Brown accounted for 10 catches on 11 targets in team drills, and truly looked like the best player on the field.
It would be mean of me to remind Patriots fans that the organization drafted N’Keal Harry 19 spots ahead of Brown in the 2019 NFL Draft, so I won’t do that. Watching him dominate in both Tennessee and Philadelphia already has to be painful enough. So I won’t go there.
But if today’s “ups” between Maye and the rookie receivers can be harnessed and developed over the next few seasons, the atrocity that was the 2019 NFL Draft will be long forgotten.
The Patriots have a walkthrough on Wednesday before taking the field against the Eagles again on Thursday for their second preseason game of 2024.