Patriots defense steps up as Gabe Jacas makes his training camp debut
· Yahoo Sports
FOXBORO – The heat may have limited some notable New England Patriots players at training camp on Aug. 1, but the crowd certainly didn’t get the notice, as the stands were packed for the second day in a row and the Patriots wore pads for their third consecutive practice.
Head coach Mike Vrabel spoke with the media before practice and gave updates on a few players’ participation for the day.
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The biggest was that second-round pick Gabe Jacas was cleared to practice almost a week after signing his rookie deal with the team.
“We’ll have Gabe [Jacas] back today,” Vrabel said. “He’ll be out there in a limited role. … Now he gets handed over to the coaches, and that’ll be in a limited role. He won’t be involved in the team reps, but hopefully Monday, we’ll see him back out there.”
Jacas has been “itching to get back” to practice and finally join his teammates, according to Vrabel.
“He loves football,” Vrabel said. “He texts me late at night, ‘Hey, am I going to practice tomorrow?’ I’m like, ‘No, just like I told you at 6:30 last night that you’re not going to practice tomorrow. You don’t have to text me at 10 and ask again. The answer is still no, not yet.’ You want that. You want guys that are looking for ways in as opposed to looking for ways out. I think he just wants to get out there, get acclimated and be with his teammates. That is all he wants to do. He just wants to play football.”
Vrabel mentioned that cornerbacks Marcus Jones and Christian Gonzalez, running back Rhamondre Stevenson and offensive linemen Alijah Vera-Tucker and Morgan Moses would also be in limited roles during practice. Cornerback Carlton Davis III once again was a non-participant after hurting his hamstring on July 28.
Davis doesn’t yet have a timeline to return but is working as hard as he can to eventually come back, according to Vrabel.
After working on red zone offense and deep route concepts the last two days, the team took time during an early period of practice to work on running back and wide receiver screens.
After that period, the team then went to a 7-on-7 drill, while the offensive and defensive line went to the other field to work on blocking and creating pressures. The Drake Maye and A.J. Brown connection continued to look strong, and fellow offseason addition receiver Romeo Doubs was continuing his consistency in the short and intermediate pass game.
While the offense has come out on top the last two days during 7-on-7’s and 11-on-11’s, today the defense showed why it was ranked as a top-five defense last season.
Linebacker Christian Elliss got it started with a pass breakup on a deep ball from Maye to receiver DeMario Douglas. Ellis was in lock-step with Douglas the whole play and got in front of him at the perfect moment to knock the ball down. The play fired up the defensive sideline and coaches.
"I love Christian [Elliss]," linebacker Robert Spillane said. "[He's] a hard-nosed football player through and through. [He's] somebody who's willing to do whatever it takes to go out there and get the job done. I just couldn't be more proud of him, and his continued growth."
Safety Dell Pettus got a pass breakup of his own just a couple of plays later, on an underthrown downfield pass to receiver Kyle Williams. Pettus would pick Maye off later in the drill on a missed read by Maye, who tried to sneak his pass between three defenders but was unsuccessful.
The defense got its second interception of the day when cornerback Karon Prunty picked off backup quarterback Tommy DeVito as he tried to hit receiver Cameron Dorner deep but underthrew him.
"When it comes down to it, he's a guy that's ready to work," Jones said. "We love to see it. Ever since he came into the room, he's trying to learn the defense and then also asking the vets, 'How do we see this coverage?' or, 'How do we see different formations?' Whatever we learn up in the classroom, he applies to the field and everything."
It wasn’t just the secondary making plays; defensive tackle Joshua Farmer was able to blow past the offensive line on a TreVeyon Henderson run and stop him way behind the line of scrimmage.
"It's been real competitive," Jones said. "Iron sharpens iron when it comes down to it. Offense has been making plays, defense making plays, but we love the competition. Being competitive every day is the way we're trying to make it."
The offense threw its own punches with two contested catches from Brown and receiver Kayshon Boutte that got the crowd riled up.
Brown caught his pass after muscling through Gonzalez’s tight coverage but was brought down before he could score. The play resulted in the loudest crowd pop of the day.
Boutte’s catch was around the same spot as Brown’s and created just enough separation from Prunty to bring it in.
Williams most likely had the play of the day as he leaped up between two defenders and snagged the ball, continuing his progress toward making the 53-man roster in a tight wide receiver room.
On the last play of 11-on-11’s, offensive tackle James Hudson went down with looked to be a leg injury. Hudson was able to stand and walk on his own but went with the trainers to the locker room and missed the rest of practice.
Kicker Andy Borregales made all five of his attempts on the day, with his longest make coming in around 55 yards.
For the first time since the pads came on, it looked like the defense got the upper hand over the offense. The defense will have an extra day to hold Saturday’s practice over the offense, as the team has an off day on Sunday, Aug. 2, before returning to practice on Monday, Aug. 3.
For the latest updates on training camp, visit Patriots.com.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Patriots defense steps up as Gabe Jacas makes his training camp debut