Patriots Mailbag: How Hottest Training Camp Battles Are Shaping Up

The New England Patriots are back in action, and so is the NESN.com Patriots mailbag.

Let’s dive right into your most pressing questions two days into training camp:

@britsoxer
Has anyone in the NFL worked as hard as Mac this off season? If it doesn’t work out for him, what else could he do?
I don’t know how it compares to every other player across the NFL, but it does sound like Mac Jones’ preparation for Year 2 was exemplary, based on comments from his coaches and teammates. Bill Belichick, who rarely gushes over young players, said this week that Jones showed “dramatic improvement” and made “tremendous strides” this offseason, and players have remarked on his improved leadership and command of the offense.

Of course, a productive offseason doesn’t guarantee a successful season, and the new Matt Patricia- and Joe Judge-led offensive coaching staff that will be guiding Jones remains a major point of concern. But the young QB seems to have put himself in the best possible position in terms of what he can control.

@ashley1992__
Hi Zack, What positional battle are you looking forward to the most during camp?
In order, I’d go:

1. Cornerback
2. Linebacker
3. Running back
4. Wide receiver

Nos. 2 and 3 can’t be properly judged until the pads come on next Monday, and injuries to James White and Pierre Strong have clouded the Patriots’ backfield picture. White is on the physically unable to perform list as he continues to recover from hip surgery, and Strong has been severely limited with an undisclosed ailment, spending nearly all of the first two practices on the rehab field. Rhamondre Stevenson, who slimmed down to 225 pounds this offseason, has seen a team-high seven targets in team drills (catching six) and is a candidate to take on some of White’s third-down responsibilities if the latter can’t fully recover in time for the season.

At this early stage of the linebacker competition, Ja’Whaun Bentley and Raekwon McMillan continue to look like the top off-the-ball options, with Mack Wilson also rotating in. Josh Uche looks like the favorite to start on the edge opposite Matthew Judon. Notably, much-hyped 2021 draftees Cameron McGrone and Ronnie Perkins have mostly run with the reserves.

The outside corner battle already has been entertaining, with Jalen Mills and Terrance Mitchell seeming to gain an early edge over Malcolm Butler (who’s had a tough go against Nelson Agholor in red-zone drills), Jack Jones and Joejuan Williams. Shaun Wade, who hardly played as a rookie last season, has been the top option in the slot with Jonathan Jones on PUP and had a pass breakup Thursday, with Marcus Jones also getting some looks there. It’ll be interesting to see if the rookie Joneses can climb the depth chart as the summer progresses.

At wideout, DeVante Parker, Jakobi Meyers, Kendrick Bourne and Agholor (in some order) appear to be the clear top four at this stage, with rookie Tyquan Thornton and receiver/running back hybrid Ty Montgomery also seeing plenty of work with the 1s.

The Tre Nixon hype train has slowed considerably, as the minicamp darling has been running with the scout team and has just one catch in team drills through two practices. (As I wrote before the summer break, roster-bubble receivers who flash in the spring often decline in camp.) Lil’Jordan Humphrey and Kristian Wilkerson have been mostly invisible thus far. We’ll see what Josh Hammond can bring after the Patriots reportedly signed him on Thursday.

@shawn_norton19
Is this Davante Parker Red Zone play real or are we being sucked in to fake pre-season stuff.
We can’t know that until the pads come on and Parker starts beating defenders in real game settings, but the Patriots’ biggest offseason acquisition has looked great thus far.

The book on Parker always has been that he doesn’t create much separation from defensive backs — he literally ranked dead last in the NFL in average separation per target last season and second-to-last in 2020, per Next Gen Stats — but is skilled at making catches in contested situations. Two days into camp, he’s done exactly that.

Parker had three contested touchdown catches on Day 1 and another on Day 2, including sideline toe-tappers against Jack Jones and Mills. The latter, which came on a perfectly placed back-shoulder throw from Mac Jones, was the play of the day in a Thursday practice mostly dominated by the defense. His only contested loss came Wednesday against Mills, who got his hand in for an end-zone pass breakup.

In a way, it’s fitting that Parker is now wearing N’Keal Harry’s old No. 1 jersey, because this is the kind of receiver the Patriots wanted Harry to become: a big-bodied outside receiver and red-zone threat who wouldn’t shake many defenders in coverage but should outmuscle most of them. Obviously, outside of a few sporadic flashes, that never happened, which is why Parker is here and Harry is now in Chicago, traded for the low, low price of a 2024 seventh-round pick.

Again, any aspect of the game that involves physicality can’t be properly evaluated when the only pads on the field are the ones DBs are wearing on their hands. But it’s hard to find many faults in Parker’s play thus far. If he can maintain this, he’d fill a key need for the Patriots, who didn’t have a wideout last season who could consistently win in the red zone.

@pats300levelpod
If Bailey Zappe has a good training camp/preseason, do you envision the Patriots moving on from Brian Hoyer (similar like they did with him in 2019)? Or do you think they would still keep Hoyer to be essentially a player/coach for Mac since he is only going into his second year?
The Patriots gave Hoyer $3 million guaranteed when they re-signed him this offseason, which should all but lock him into a roster spot. And though it’s still very early, Zappe has looked shaky and erratic so far, struggling with his ball placement and missing several open receivers.

Such struggles aren’t unusual for a fourth-round rookie coming from a very different offensive scheme. But what I’ve seen thus far hasn’t been particularly impressive.

It was notable that the Patriots opted to give Zappe all of the second-team reps Thursday after he logged just four competitive reps on Day 1 of camp (and none in 11-on-11s), but that likely was just part of a planned rotation. Plus, Hoyer is what he is. Zappe needs those reps more than he does as he adjusts to the Patriots’ system and the speed of the NFL game.

@thisryanjackson
How’s Bill Murray fitting in on offense?
That was an interesting wrinkle to see on Day 1 of camp.

For those who missed it, Bill Murray, an undrafted defensive tackle who spent the last two seasons on the practice squad, is playing offensive line this summer. You can’t glean much about O-line play from non-padded practices, but this position change tells me the Patriots both like Murray and want to give him another opportunity to stick on the roster, and also aren’t stoked about their current O-line depth.

From what I’ve seen, Murray has been playing guard this week. He also saw a lot of action as an upback on the kickoff return team Thursday — a role he’d filled in previous training camps — and has played in kick coverage.

Beyond their top six of starters Trent Brown, Cole Strange, David Andrews, Mike Onwenu and Isaiah Wynn and top reserve tackle Justin Herron, it’s tough to predict who will nab the Patriots’ final few O-line roster spots.

The current candidates are James Ferentz (who’s filled in as the top-choice center this week with Andrews on PUP), Yasir Durant, Will Sherman, Arlington Hambright, Drew Desjarlais, Kody Russey, Chasen Hines, Andrew Stueber and, now, Murray. Hines and Stueber, the Patriots’ final two picks in this year’s draft, are on the non-football injury list and have yet to practice.

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