Letters from Patriots Camp, Vol. I

The most powerful man on Earth is no longer part of our future. We're still not sure what the circumstances of his departure actually were, and we may never get the details of what took place behind the scenes. All we know is that he's been pushed aside and his second-in-command is now running things as we enter this new, uncertain world. And hope that we can get back to achieving the greatness we used to enjoy. And that the world will look us with a combination of respect, awe, envy and fear we once took for granted. 

I'm talking of course about the 2024 New England Patriots. In a year of tumultuous change, one thing will always remain the same. I'll be here for you. 

--Though it's fair to ask how many other people will be. Granted, the two practices they've held so far have been midweek affairs with cloudy skies threatening rain. But regardless of how many buttcheeks are on how many benches, the one thing these crowds haven't lacked in the 20-plus years Training Camp has been held behind Gillette, there was never a lack of enthusiasm. Until now. When the new franchise quarterback took the field, he received the dictionary definition of a "smattering" of applause:

This was the reaction you'd expect after a tap-in bogey at a Member-Guest. You would've thought he was trying to stand-up after a puppy was killed in the parking lot:

… and not the vessel into which we've poured all our hopes and dreams. But that's more or less how it was for everyone on the roster, save for Matt Judon, who always starts out by doing crowd work anyway. It'll be fascinating to see if things are different with bigger crowds over the weekend. Because there is a growing Enthusiasm Gap in the AFC East, and it's up to the good people of Foxboro to close it. I mean, this felt like the year of Camp Covid. 

--Anyway, without a doubt the highlight so far has been this, and it has not been even close:

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True, Jalen Reagor has had moderate-to-severe hand problems throughout his career. And he was being defended by Brendan Schooler, who belongs in the Nate Ebner role of special teamer/goal line safety and should never be in coverage. But what's most important is the way Drake Maye looked on this throw. The easy release, a simple flick of the wrist producing 40 air yards and the dime coming right down over the safety to hit his target in stride. This is the major benefit of a 4-13 debacle. This is what we haven't seen from the fool's gold of Mac Jones and Cam Newton and any of a half dozen other QBs who have tried and failed here. And it's the raw skill set Alex Van Pelt and Ben McAdoo and TC McCartney have the responsibility of refining so that we don't spend the next five years in Sunday at 1:00 irrelevancy.  No pressure though. 

--I've been taking some dives into the Cleveland offense Van Pelt was operating in (and not running) under Kevin Stefanski the last few years. And I'll dedicate a blog to it some time soon. But what you largely read about Stefanski's system is that it's primarily a wide, outside zone-oriented scheme, with a reliance on runs from under-center alignments. Then play action passes from the exact same look, in order to make defenses have to think and play slower. There are other elements I won't get into here, but suffice to say that in order for Maye to thrive in whatever variation AVP is running, he's going to need to develop the footwork we kept hearing about during the draft process. Every imbecilic sports radio caller who wanted no part of him because they watched two minutes of highlights and heard he operated strictly out of the gun at UNC seemed to think taking 3- 5- and 7-step drops and keeping his feet under him is an impossible task. Like learing the choreography to "Step in Time." And not just something that's going to take a reasonable amount of development and practice reps. 

--And to that end, the offensive line is going to need all of camp and beyond, because this zone scheme requires precision. Everyone knowing everyone else's reads and assignments without having to think about it. Which is going to take time and reps. And like with Maye, that means patience. When the rest of the squad was running 7-on-7s, the offensive line was down the far end of the practice field, working on the most basic of fundamentals. Hand fighting and shedding blocks and so on. The equivalent of teaching 1st graders what the numbers are called before they start learning to draw them. Not that they haven't been working together since OTAs. Just that more patience than we're used to is going to be needed because it's all new and the league has essentially turned football training camp into a flight simulator where nothing is real.

--Perhaps the most significant position move on the roster is one of the least sexy and blog worthy. And that's them sliding Michael Onwenu back into the right guard slot from the right tackle he locked down last year. Which is the kind of thing you can do when you've signed a guy to his coveted second contract; it simply means he's getting paid tackle money to do guard's work. And Onewnu isn't complaining. So as of now the offensive line is (L to R), Chukwuma Okorafor, Sidy Sow, David Andrews, Onwenu and Calvin Anderson, with some combination of the other four O-linemen besides Sow they've drafted in the last two years backing them up. It doesn't sound like Joe Gibbs' Hogs from the 1980s, but it's a work in progress. Anyway, I for one am perfectly happy to let them come together in front of Jacoby Brisset for a while before throwing Maye in there. All season if necessary. 

--There are a few obvious changes from last year's camp. The first, most significant one is the aforementioned coaching change. The first thing that jumps out is that Belichick always started camp with a heavy dose of red zone work. Almost exclusively for the first week or so of practice. Shortening the field on the offense to put them at a disadvantage, like swinging a weighted bat. The plays in these two workouts have been entirely at mid-field. Presumably to get everyone familiar with the basics of the system, without putting a thumb on the scale and making it harder. 

--But there's also a more relaxed vibe to the proceedings that's palpable. I don't mean to make it sound like the spa on a cruise ship, with satin robes and soft Phillip Glass music on the PA system. In fact, the music was blaring throughout. Mostly Hip Hop. But with one Van Halen mixed in. (The Gary Cherone era? Really, Mayo? That's a rookie mistake that cannot be tolerated. You can make errors, but don't be an error repeater.) But at one point there was a shotgun snap (it might have been from Nick Levertt, but don't hold me to that) over the head of 6-foot-5 1/2 Joe Milton III, and no one ran a lap. I'm not going to assume Mayo put an arm around the offending center and asked him if he needed to go in his office and lie down or go talk to the Guidance Counselor. But for 24 years of great success that guy would've been sent to a Siberian work camp like Doyostevsky. Today? Not a thing happened. They just went to the next rep. This is going to take some getting used to.

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--But the most obvious asthetic change is that everyone, with the exception of the quarterbacks, is now wearing those Super Mario Mushroom helmets, not just the Front-7 guys like last year. I have no idea if they help or hurt the efforts of teams getting ready to play tackle football. But the NFL is trying to change the subject of the national conversation away from CTE by any means necessary. And it seems to be working. 

--On a related note, the special teams did some work on the new kickoff rules. Though for the life of me, I had no idea what I was seeing. It looked more like a 50-yard long Foosball table to me, but with everyone on each team crammed into one pole, with the exception of the kicker and return guy. All I know is that Marcus Jones seems to be the first option as the returner. And he split reps with Demario Douglas. Wait and see on everything else. 

--As far as the plays ran, for the most part, everything thrown was caught in 7-on-7s, as it should be. There were no deep shots like the one to Reagor yesterday. A lot of working the flats and curls. A good deal of checkdowns. Maye hit Tyquan Thornton on an out route, followed by a quick hit to KJ Osborn, who saw a lot of targets from every QB. And a 20-yarder to TE Mitchell Wilcox over Schooler again. But in 11s work, he had a miscommunication with Thornton and missed TE Jaheim Bell on a shallow slant. 

--Brissett on the other hand, had a nice fade route pass to Polk broken up by Marcus Jones in what would've been a DPI against any non-Kansas City Chiefs defender in the league. And had a PBU from Julius Peppers on a ball intended for Hunter Henry.  But made up for it with a beautiful scramble to put a comebacker right on Osborn's hands in tight coverage. 

--So in the issue on pretty much everyone's minds, the QB1 job very much appears to be Brissett's for now and for as long as he hangs onto it. And there appears to be no sense of urgency to rush Maye into taking over until he's good and ready. Which gives you plenty of time to buy the shirt that I wore the shit out of.

Yes, there's a ton of uncertainty. But damn, it's good to be back.