Patriots Training Camp Notebook: Defense Caps Day With 3 Straight Interceptions

The New England Patriots were back in full pads on Thursday following a day of walkthrough work. With the tempo picking back up, the Patriots worked both full-field and red zone work.

Here’s what went down throughout the session on the humid fields behind Gillette Stadium.

Attendance

Absent: WR Romeo Doubs, CB Carlton Davis III, TE Jack Westover, WR Cameron Dorner

Injured: DL Christian Barmore, CB Charles Woods

Limited: OT Will Campbell, OG Caedan Wallace

PUP/NFI: ED Harold Landry III, S Brenden Schooler

The Patriots attendance list largely remained the same on Thursday as Romeo Doubs and Carlton Davis again highlighted the absentees. New England saw depth offensive lineman Caedan Wallace return to the practice fields in a limited fashion.

On a hot, humid day, the defense did see Christian Barmore and Charles Woods depart with head athletic trainer Jim Whalen.

Takeaways

Defense ending strong: It was a strong day in general for the Patriots defense, but the unit put the cherry on top with three straight interceptions in two-minute situations to end the session.

With 1:20 on the clock from the 40-yard line, Drake Maye found a trio of completions — including a strong hands catch from A.J. Brown with Christian Gonzalez all over him — before a short pass to Kayshon Boutte saw Marcus Jones jump the route for the interception. Allowing Maye’s unit to then stay on the field, the quarterback’s next pass down the seam to Hunter Henry was intercepted by Kevin Byard.

As Tommy DeVito’s unit then took over, a similar result follow. Facing pressure on his first drop back, DeVito moved to his left before firing an interception to safety John Saunders Jr. The defensive sideline was rightfully rowdy while Mike Vrabel ended practice.

A.J. vs Gonzo: It’s been a highly competitive back-and-forth summer between cornerback Christian Gonzalez and wide receiver A.J. Brown. On Thursday, advantage Gonzalez.

After a downfield target to Brown with Gonzalez in coverage fell incomplete in full-team work, the duo matched up twice against each other in 2-on-2 goal line work. Gonzalez was on the winning side of both reps, which included a pass breakup in the corner of the end zone to end the drill that sparked back-and-forth trash talk — with the two almost needing to be separated as work transitioned to a new period.

Campbell limited: Starting left tackle Will Campbell did not participate in any competitive periods on Thursday as he again wore a Rob Gronkowski-like arm brace on his left arm that he debuted in Wednesday’s walkthrough.

Without their top left tackle, fellow second-year pro Marcus Bryant repped in his place with the top offense as first-round pick Caleb Lomu continued to train at right tackle with the second unit. That then elevated rookie Dametrious Crownover to backup left tackle.

Jacas’ ramping up: Rookie pass rusher Gabe Jacas worked in with the first-team defense on Thursday as he continues to ramp up following his offseason knee procedure. While Jacas’ size and power stand out, the rookie won multiple times with speed on Thursday while working against the second unit. That first came when he dipped around Lomu to register a pressure (and a likely holding penalty) before beating Crownover in two-minute to help force an interception.

Other notes:

• With Romeo Doubs sidelined, increased reps were split between Mack Hollins, Kayshon Boutte, and Efton Chism III. Kyle Williams worked in with all three offenses and caught a downfield corner route from Behren Morton while DeVito missed him on a goal line fade.
• Mack Hollins and DeMario Douglas caught touchdowns from Drake Maye in red zone work.
• In 2-on-2 goal line work both Hunter Henry and Eli Raridon had multiple wins while Kyle Williams smoked Kevin Byard on a slant. Efton Chism saw a pair of passes uncharacteristically hit the turf before ending with a win.
• The Patriots worked their QB/option run game in the red zone. Their regular run game largely continued to struggle.
• Terrell Jennings was the first running back up behind Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson.
• Morgan Moses had a false start.
• Quintayvious Hutchins continues to flash along the edge as he was in the backfield for a potential sack. Jesse Luketa also logged a would-be sack with the third unit.
• Joshua Farmer added another run stuff to his impressive summer resume.
• Brandon Crossley had a late pass breakup guarding Nick DeGennaro along the goal line.
• The Patriots will be back on the practice fields on Friday for their fifth and final practice of the week, which is set to begin at 10:15 a.m. ET. Mike Vrabel will speak beforehand.