Patriots Ota Takeaways: Maye Struggles; Vrabel Brings The Intensity

Patriots OTA takeaways: Maye struggles; Vrabel brings the intensity originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The New England Patriots took the field Tuesday for their first on-field OTA (Organized Team Activities) practice open to the media. It was a much-anticipated session with new head coach Mike Vrabel leading a group with heightened expectations after a woeful 2024.

NBC Sports Boston’s Phil Perry and Tom E. Curran were in attendance for the practice at Gillette Stadium. They shared their biggest takeaways from the day in a brand new episode of the Patriots Talk Podcast.

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“Offensively, a little sloppy,” Perry said. “I also would say just overall, the feel and the tenor of the practice was more intense than I was anticipating. For years, Tom, we heard about how this time of year, these camps are really teaching camps. … This wasn’t that. This was more intense. The speed was greater than what I’m used to, I think, this time of year. So that was another takeaway.

“The third would just be the defense. When you’re looking at the defense and you’re trying to figure out what this thing might look like moving forward, and how good they could be, there is a lot of talent running around out there, which I think should get Vrabel and his defensive staff pretty excited.”

Curran also mentioned the offense’s rough start while noting how Vrabel’s practice felt compared to his predecessors.

“They seem like they’ve been dropped into the deep end a little bit,” Curran said.

“To springboard off of Phil, we’re gonna be continuously comparing this year to last year, and this year to Bill (Belichick’s) years. This was very markedly different than Bill’s OTAs. They were faster, they were more demanding, there was less in-between teaching. … They are so far ahead of where they were last year, not because the demands are different, just because the experience is different.”

Another noticeable difference: the new-look Patriots limited unforced errors.

“There weren’t a lot of brain farts,” he said. “You didn’t see guys jumping offsides, you didn’t see a lot of guys not knowing they were supposed to be on the field running out, you didn’t see a lot of hesitation and pauses.”

New England’s next OTA practice is scheduled for Thursday.

Also in the episode:

• DeMario Douglas talks early days of the Josh McDaniels’ offense and how he hopes to succeed as a slot receiver.
• Breaking down Drake Maye’s four interceptions.
• Early look at rookie Will Campbell and how his size looks compared to the other offensive linemen.
• Curran impressed by Christian Barmore’s conditioning and speed.
• Perry impressed with the undrafted rookie, Efton Chism.
• Who was missing and who was limited during OTAs.