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Mike Vrabel’s face bled during a scuffle, and other takeaways from Patriots-Commanders joint practice
"Hey, you should have seen the other guy," Vrabel said when DeMario Douglas asked what happened.
FOXBOROUGH – It happened in an instant. A training camp dust-up led to Patriots coach Mike Vrabel at the bottom of a pile of players.
By the end, Vrabel rose to his feet and an official pointed to his face. The coach was bleeding from his cheek. He was handed a towel and wiped his face. It wasn’t Vrabel’s first rodeo.
The Patriots coach recently recalled memories of a 1997 training camp fight he was involved in during his rookie year. Almost three decades later, Vrabel found himself in the mix again.
“Somebody was saying it was like the [President] Trump gunshot wound, so I was laughing at that,” quarterback Drake Maye said of the cut on Vrabel’s cheek.
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The scuffle began on a passing play when Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson was involved in a physical collision with a Commanders defender while he was blocking for Maye. Things got heated, but eventually cooled down.
“I think pass pro gets physical,” Maye said. “It’s a man’s game and things happen out there … there’s a time where obviously you don’t want to go out there and fight and get in trouble but you also don’t want to back down from nobody. I’m sure coach will preach that you can’t have that, but in the back of our minds that’s kind of how you want to play with intensity and when the whistle is going play hard.”
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Vrabel seemed fine after the pile cleared up. Receiver DeMario Douglas asked the coach what happened.
“Hey, you should have seen the other guy,” Vrabel joked, according to Douglas.
Former Patriots defensive lineman Deatrich Wise Jr., now with the Commanders, said Vrabel showed “grit” and “tenacity” by jumping into the fray.
Unlike last year, when New England got pushed around by the Eagles, the Patriots showed some fight against the Commanders during Wednesday’s joint practice.
Here are five takeaways from the action.
DeMario Douglas was dominant.
So, there was the scuffle that Vrabel was involved in and a smaller dustup involving Kayshon Boutte and Marshon Latimore that was broken up quickly.
But, as far as actual football, Douglas was the story of the day. The Patriots used his quickness early and often. Maye hit him in stride on a short crossing route, and Douglas had several steps on his defender. There was nothing but green grass in front of him as he galloped for a big gain.
“I can’t wait to see that in a game,” Douglas said of the wide open space.
Maye hit him again for another big gain on the next play and continued to look for him throughout the practice.
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Maye looked his way again on a deep pass, rifling in a pass with some heat on it, but Douglas dropped it.
But, for the most part, the Commanders had an tough time dealing with Douglas.
The front seven looked solid.
The Patriots’ front seven did a pretty solid job bottling up the Commanders’ option running game.
They did get gashed repeatedly on short and medium routes to Washington tight-end Zach Ertz, but the Patriots’ big defenders looked competitive in the run game and against the pass.
Christian Barmore looked impressive during 1-on-1 drills, bullying his way inside for pressure. Harold Landry had a nice swim move where a Commanders offensive lineman was pretty much forced to grab him. The rep that stood out the most to me came from Isaiah Iton, who bull-rushed a Commanders backup and pushed him straight back. Nice show of power there.
Keion White had a relatively tough time during 1-on-1’s, he tried an outside move on the first rep and lost his balance. His opponent seemed to keep him in front of him on the second rep, but a flag was thrown.
Stefon Diggs arrived late.
Stefon Diggs was not present at the beginning of practice, but was able to jump into 7-on-7 drills and the later portion of 11-on-11s after he arrived late.
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It’s not clear why Diggs wasn’t there at the start. Maye made sure he got some touches once he did get in, hitting Diggs for a pair of completions.
Boutte continued to stack good performances with another highlight-reel toe-tapping touchdown. It was a quiet day for rookie Kyle Williams.
Josh Dobbs tried to hit Javon Baker on a deep pass during which there was plenty of contact but no call from the officials.
The offensive line held their own.
The big difference from last year’s debacle against the Eagles was that Maye wasn’t running for his life this time.
He looked poised and composed hitting 10 of his first 12 passes, and that includes the drop from Douglas.
He had a late interception at the end on a throw where Douglas appeared to be open but Bobby Wagner got a hand up and tipped it. Former Everett High star Mike Sainristil grabbed the interception.
Overall, the Patriots’ offense didn’t have much trouble moving the ball through the air.
“Those boys put in their work,” Douglas said. “They’re in the meetings overtime, early, they’re on the field working and it shows, how much work they’re putting in.”
Jayson Tatum made an appearance.
Celtics star Jayson Tatum spent some time watching practice in Foxborough on Wednesday.
He walked without a boot on, opting for white Jordan Brand sneakers, and looked relatively comfortable as he moved. Deebo Samuel came over and shook hands with Tatum in between plays. He shook hands with Maye after practice.
“I told him it was unfortunate what happened to him and I’m looking forward to seeing him come back,” Maye said in reference to Tatum’s ruptured Achilles’ tendon that forced him to have offseason surgery. “My older brother Luke [Maye] is here and his first start was in Cameron [Indoor Stadium] against Duke and he was guarding Jayson, so it’s pretty cool.”
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