Training Camp Stock Watch: Javon Baker continues to perform well appeared first on NBC Sports Boston.
FOXBORO — About 24 hours before the Patriots put on pads for the first time in training camp, things heated up a bit.
After a pass to Ramondre Stevenson during the 11-on-11 period — a play that appeared to be blown away for no gain by defensive tackle Daniel Ekuare — a brief skirmish broke out between the offensive and defensive players. David Andrews dropped his helmet. Sidi Sow had to readjust his shoulder pads. Chukwuma Okorafor and Davon Godchaux were near the center of the jostle.
And things continued to loosen up a bit from there.
After two incomplete passes by Jacoby Brissett, Diatrich Wise appeared to make contact with Brissett in the backfield as the quarterback began to throw — something a red-jersey passer shouldn’t do — and Wise acknowledged it after the play, slapping his chest and raising his hands as if to say, “It was my fault.”
Two plays later, Drake Maye took the field, but the offense appeared to have turnover issues and had to rally again, and moments later, rookie guard Raeden Robinson committed a false start penalty and was ejected for a lap.
It was a notable development, in part because new head coach Jerrod Mayo handled it differently than his predecessor.
When practices in previous camps got too intense or disjointed, coach Bill Belichick would gather the team and forcefully remind them of his expectations, sometimes making everyone, including the coaching staff, run a lap or two just to send a message.
Mayo handled it differently on Sunday. Practice continued, games didn’t stop and eventually tensions rose. In the next period of play, Brissett and Mayo made six of their next seven attempts, with one incompleting on a drop by KJ Osborne.
It’s too early in Mayo’s tenure to judge from afar what the right approach is when practice goes awry, but what Mayo did on Sunday felt different for the Patriots, allowing his players to take the right approach in real time.
If a similar situation occurs, will it continue when the pads arrive on Monday?
If so, adding later start times, music throughout the game and more competitive time for teams to the list of camp elements might lead Mayo to respond differently than his former boss.
Stock up
Javon Baker, wide receiver
The rookie receiver out of Central Florida has appeared in our Stock Up column for the third straight day, and Sunday may have been his best day yet.
He started slow when he missed a back-shoulder pass from Jacoby Brissett in a one-on-one, but picked up the pace from there. Later in the same one-on-one period, Baker made a smart move on Christian Gonzalez and ran a deep over-route for a long gain. A few plays later, he beat Mikey Victor and made a diving catch of a pass from Jacoby Brissett deep down the left sideline.
Later, during an 11-on-11 drill, Baker caught a crossing pass from Drake May that looked like it would have been a long catch-and-run in real life. If Baker can continue to have explosive plays in practice — his longest play of the day was a 60-yard touchdown catch from Joe Milton on Friday — he could be a contributing member of the Patriots’ offense sooner than his fourth-round pick résumé suggests.
Diatrich Wise, defensive end
Wise may have gotten a little too close to Brissett in one practice, but he still got the hang of it. Approaching the QuarterbackThat was the goal. And it was one of two near sacks by Wise during practice. He got another later in practice when he and Equelle got into the backfield early. Brissett eventually got a pass through to Antonio Gibson, but if that practice had been live, he would have been engulfed by Wise’s long arms.
Wise also batted down passes at the line of scrimmage — he was third on the team in pressures last season, according to Pro Football Focus, and looks to have a chance to be one of the most disruptive players up front again after a few practices in camp.
Antonio Gibson, running back
Speaking of Gibson … he was officially activated off the non-football injured list after participating in his first training camp practice as a member of the Patriots. The veteran running back showed good quickness at times, including the move that led to a holding foul in a one-on-one situation with linebacker Jalani Tavai.
If Gibson is healthy and available, he will likely play ahead of most other backs except for Rhamondre Stevenson, and players at the position will have a ton of work to do once pads are introduced on Monday and there’s more of an emphasis on the running game.
Stock prices fall
Patriots offensive line
For the second time in the past three practices, the big boys up front on the Patriots offensive line were in the stock down column, and while Rayden Robinson’s false start and subsequent wrap may have been the most glaring of their mistakes, there were others too: multiple run-stuffing errors, three sacks and two inaccurate snaps by Atonio Maffe to Bailey Zappe late in the practice.
For the second straight day, the Patriots started with Kaidan Wallace at left tackle and Chukwuma Okorafor at right tackle, and it will be interesting to see if this unit can generate a little more positive momentum with the pads on and move closer to joining that top-five group.
KJ Osborne, wide receiver
Late in the seven-on-seven game, there was a play where Drake Maye made what appeared to be a good decision to try and protect one of the wide receivers. Maye threw a slow pass to Osborn, appearing to try and get the receiver away from linebacker Jalani Tavai approaching the middle of the field. The pass hit Osborn’s back shoulder pad but was catchable. The pass bounced off the target and fell incomplete.
Another attempt on Osborn was blocked, this time by Alex Austin during an 11-on-11 drill, and Osborn had the ball punched away by Brenden Schooler during a ball safety drill.
But it wasn’t all bad for the veteran free agent. He flashed his hands in a one-on-one situation to catch a bucket-high pass from Brissett late in the game, and he also got a step ahead of Marcus Jones deep down the field for what might have been a long gain had Maye not overpassed it by a yard or two.
Joe Milton, quarterback
After two drills in the stock-up column, Milton appeared to have a tough day on Sunday, completing just one of his first five official drills, during which he allowed consecutive passes to be intercepted by linebacker Joe Giles-Harris, who was lurking underneath near the line of scrimmage.
A few minutes later, Milton threw a pass to tight end LaMichael Petway that probably should have been caught but went unnecessarily over Petway’s head.
Milton Zappe and Bailey Zappe shared competitive practice duties today, getting a total of nine snaps in 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 periods, respectively.
