FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Patriots are ramping up training camp by taking the field with the Philadelphia Eagles for two joint practices this week before their preseason game Saturday night.
The second joint practice took place Thursday, with a few scuffles and red zone work highlighting the session.
Patriots players told Boston 25, a joint practice that competitive and physical is a big step toward being ready for the season.
“You know, the biggest thing is, that’s a good football team over there, and I think just not riding the rollercoaster,” Patriots quarterback Drake Maye said.
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That rollercoaster started on a high with one-on-one wins from Patriots receivers like A.J. Brown, who beat Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell with a tipped catch to himself in the corner of the end zone. That level of play carried over into the start of red zone work, but then dipped a bit with Philadelphia’s defense intercepting two passes.
“I know it’s tough down there in the red zone,” Maye said. “There’s a lot of bodies in a short amount of space, but I feel like we could’ve done more in the red zone and I think that’s something for us to learn and one of our focuses this year, is to be better in the red zone, so we got some work to do.”
The joint practice work is especially important for Patriots rookies to get up to speed, both literally on the field and schematically running plays in real time.
“Every day is just a great opportunity for me to improve on the offense and every day it’s starting to get easier and everything is starting to slow down,” Patriots rookie tight end Eli Raridon said. “Because of that, I’m able to play faster and not think as much out there, so it’s been good.”
“It’s been a real challenge for sure, but it’s been a fun challenge to go out and attack,” Patriots rookie offensive lineman Caleb Lomu said. “If I watch the film from rookie mini camp, I’m sure I’d be surprised of how far I came. Learned a lot, and being able to compete against these guys in the NFL and just show that I belong out here on the field.”
None of the Eagles starters are expected to play in Saturday’s preseason game, and the Patriots are expected to follow their format from the first preseason game in only playing a handful of younger potential starters or new additions limited snaps and series, with mostly back-ups playing the entirety of the game. The Patriots and Eagles will face off at Gillette Stadium Saturday at 7 p.m.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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