Jacoby Brissett explains why his knowledge of Alex Van Pelt’s offense is beneficial and how he’s helping his teammates acclimate to the new system
FOXBORO -- It didn't take long for DeMarcus Covington to respond when asked what he hoped to see from his players in Tuesday's joint practice with the Eagles.
"Hopefully," he said Monday morning, "we come out and dominate. That's what we're looking for, to be honest."
In preparation for the singular joint workout the two teams will conduct this week ahead of Thursday's preseason game, the Patriots dialed back the intensity on Monday. Players were in small light pads (shells) or no shoulder pads at all. The practice lasted for about 90 minutes, making it one of the shortest practices of the summer.
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But there was still plenty to observe, despite the team handling their most recent camp practice like a warmup for what's to come. Let's get to the details with our Day 13 edition of Stock Watch...
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Ja'Lynn Polk, wide receiver
DeMario Douglas is the Patriots receiver who finds himself open more consistently than any other. But in terms of availability and on-field dependability, there's no Patriots pass-catcher who has been more consistent than Polk.
Polk made arguably the play of the day Monday, climbing the ladder to catch a back-shoulder jump-ball toss from Joe Milton with corner Isaiah Bolden in tight coverage. He also snagged a sprint-out touchdown drawn up to go in his direction.
He's picked up multiple positions within the receiver umbrella, and on Day 13 he continued to be in the right place at the right time, executing when asked.
"He wants it," veteran QB Jacoby Brissett said of Polk. "And that's all you can ask for."
Joe Giles-Harris, linebacker
Patriots linebackers coach Dont'a Hightower couldn't help but smile when asked about third-year linebacker Joe Giles-Harris before Monday's practice. He filled the box score with four tackles and two pass breakups in the preseason opener, then in Sunday's practice he tipped up a Drake Maye pass that was nearly picked.
"He has a really good feel of zone awareness, being in zone, just the concept of something under, something behind. The communication part of it, he knows where to be," Hightower said of Giles-Harris. "He's just been doing a good job.
"I joked with him yesterday, 'If we do the impact plays, you'd have one of those little fly-swatters on you.' Think he had two in the game, had one the other day. He's definitely been very impactful on the defense right now."
About two hours later, Giles-Harris got his hands on another pass -- this one from Joe Milton -- and it ricocheted up and into the hands of rookie safety Dell Pettus.
Young DBs
Dell Pettus made his pick Monday after nearly hauling in a Giles-Harris deflection Sunday. A longtime starter at Troy (61 starts), Pettus has arrived at Patriots camp and appears to play beyond his years.
"Dell's done a good job of what rookies should do," safeties coach Brian Belichick said Monday. "They have a lot to learn and he's trying to learn it, and doing it the right way as we're trying to teach him... He's still playing within himself, playing fast, aggressive, physical, tough, communicating. Those are all very important for us at the safety position. He just needs to keep stacking the days together and see where he ends up."
Despite one blip -- a defensive pass interference call on Alex Austin -- young defensive backs had a good day Monday.
Christian Gonzalez nearly picked off Maye. Marco Wilson hung in K.J. Osborn's hip pocket on a shot to the corner of the end zone to help force an incompletion. Azizi Hearn broke up a deep shot from Milton, and Mikey Victor disrupted a Maye attempt for Javon Baker deep down the field. Victor got his hands on the football twice in the preseason and has carried some of that positive momentum into practice settings.
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Team discipline
Though the intensity was a tick below where it has been for most Patriots practices, that doesn't mean the officiating crew in attendance wasn't busy.
In the first 11-on-11 period of the session, there appeared to be an offsides call on the defense. Then came the Austin defensive pass interference. Soon thereafter there was another offsides penalty, and then the defense had only 10 men on the field when the offense broke the huddle.
Defensively there were two laps taken and Jerod Mayo made sure to meet with the team after one of them. Offensively, the picture wasn't much prettier. There were two false-start penalties and two shaky center-to-quarterback exchanges.
Screen game
This was more of an issue on Sunday than it was Monday, but it was an issue Monday just the same.
On Day 12, there were three screens called for Drake Maye that went nowhere. On Day 13, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt called for one more that was promptly ruined by the Patriots defense when Oshane Ximines batted down Maye's attempt.
If the Patriots plan to be a run-first, ball-control team in 2024 -- if they want to protect their offensive line, which has some unproven pass protectors -- then getting the screen game going will be critical. Despite hitting on one for a solid gain against Carolina last week (13 yards on third down to Antonio Gibson), it looks like they still have some work to do in that regard.
Joe Milton, quarterback
After his standout performance in the preseason opener, Milton has cooled. He only saw two reps on Sunday but threw incomplete twice. Combined with his competitive snaps Monday, in two practices, he's gone 2-for-5 with an interception and a sack.
He also might hear his coaches preaching to him the importance of ball security after a scramble on Monday. Mayo said one area he'd like to see Milton improve after the Patriots-Panthers exhibition game was keeping the football secure and tucked away under his arm when he becomes a runner.
"Yeah, you know, just watching Joe run around and that athleticism is always a welcome sight," Mayo said before Sunday's practice. "In saying that, there are still things for him to work on. One thing would be ball security. I know it looked cool, but it’s always a dangerous thing, swinging the ball around like that, but this is a guy who is working hard every single day and getting better."
During his run on Monday, the ball was a little loose and away from Milton's body in his right hand.
