Mike Vrabel Spilling Blood and Drake Maye Outplaying Jayden Daniels in Practice Proves the Patriots are BACK

There are moments in any hero's journey that stand out, long before the mission is completed, the battle is won, and peace is restored. Odysseus had to defeat the Cyclops and save his men. Luke Skywalker had to face Vader. Hulk Hogan had to bodyslam Andre the Giant (RIP). It's facing these challenges along the way are part of the hero's character arc, that define who he is, and make the journey epic. 

And the new and improved 2025 version of the New England Patriots had such moments in a joint practice against Washington. Arguably the best single day of training camp in franchise history, though I have no idea to actually back up that claim or quantify it. What I can say is that I've been going to Pats camps since the 1990s when they were at Bryant College in Smithfield, RI, and can never recall a day anything like it. 

Beginning with Mike Vrabel jumping into a pile of angry, testosterone-fueled rage monsters - in full pads and helmets - throwing haymakers at each other, and came out of it battered and bloodied. But lived to tell the tale. 

Honestly, it's hard to remember a more iconic and inspirational moment from the leader of a cause. Though credit to Drake Maye, who came up with a good one:

Cue the memes:

Vrabel bleeding his own blood:

… set a tone for the day. Just as he's set a tone every day since he was hired back in January. One that was no lost on his players, past:

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… and present:

Source -  "That's what we're trying to build, I think," quarterback Drake Maye told reporters excitedly. "And it starts with the coach, starts with the head coach. The intensity, bringing it every day, taking no crap when we're out there on the field." …

[T]he message was clear that New England players loved what happened. 

There was reportedly a buzz in the huddle after Vrabel was seen attending to his bloodied cheek. The coach spent part of the remainder of practice holding an ice bag to his face.

"But for mentality," Maye added, "I like it. I think that's what you want. I mean, I almost got in there, but I think maybe another day, maybe. So, we'll see."

And for what it's worth, that mentality extended to the overflow crowd, who were watching from all the way up the ramp to the parking lot and into it like it was a regular season game with playoff implications.

Before we go another sentence, just to address anyone who's read this far and is saying, "Sure Old Balls, you're a sexy, brilliant silver fox who women find irresistible, but this is just practice. It doesn't mean anything." Let's pause here for a brief history lesson. This is the report from joint practice with the Eagles this time last year:

NBC Sports Boston - The New England Patriots offense was exposed by the Philadelphia Eagles during Tuesday's joint practice in Foxboro. …

[T]he Patriots offensive line had no answer for Philly's vaunted front seven. The unit has been a glaring weakness throughout camp and failed its first test against a tough opponent. The unit had more sacks allowed (15) than passes completed (14) with Jacoby Brissett and Drake Maye behind center and averaged one penalty for every 10 offensive reps. 

Boston Sports Journal's Greg Bedard labeled the offense's performance "an absolute trainwreck," stating it made him "question everything" about the group heading into the campaign.

And we all know that train never stopped wrecking. The Eagles went on to win a Super Bowl thanks in large part to that pass rush. The Patriots went on to have the worst offense in the league, lowlighted by the worst offensive line, and everyone got fired an hour after the season ended. 

So how did it go against a team that went 12-5, won two playoff games including beating the brakes off the No. 1 seed in the NFC and had the Offensive Rookie of the Year at quarterback? The Patriots dominated Washington on both sides of the ball. And Maye played circles around Jayden Daniels:

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Patriots.com -  Maye connected on 10 of his first 12 throws in full team drills, finding a rhythm by working the middle of the field with shifty slot receiver DeMario Douglas. On one noteworthy play, Douglas burst quickly into the Commanders secondary on a shallow crosser for an explosive play. Then, Maye smoothly dodged pressure off his right side by side-stepping the rush and climbing the pocket, delivering a dart to Douglas, who was running a deeper crossing route this time.

 

Maye capped off the opening 11-on-11 session with a seam pass to TE Hunter Henry off play-action, a deep out to WR Mack Hollins, another crosser to TE Austin Hooper where Maye manipulated the coverage with a fake to get Hooper open and then capped off a great stretch by finding Hollins in the cover-two hole along the left sideline. The Pats QB was dealing.

By way of full disclosure, Maye was not perfect. No one in the first week of August ever is. The session ended with a simulated hurry-up offense, ball on the 25, with 0:45 on the clock. After completing two 8-yard passes, he had a ball get tipped at the line by Bobby Wagner - note that in his 14th season at age 35, he's still very good at tackle football - and was intercepted. But that was his only mistake of the day. 

In other vital areas of the roster, Will Campbell didn't give up any pressures. Unless you count diving on a pile to protect one of his 2025 Rookie classmates:

… a Commanders blitzer to the ground, the two began tussling on the turf. Mike Vrabel bolted over to try to break it up, but Campbell saw what was happening too, and promptly dove on the Washington player to get him off Henderson.” 

LFG.   

In other words, taking on the personality of his coach, which is exactly what you want from your LT when the coach is out there harvesting souls like Vrabel. 

Once again, Pop Douglas was catching balls all over the field and Mack Hollins was a consistent deep threat. The defensive that was last in the league in sacks generated pressure most of the day. And all in all, the Pats established that the chaos of last season is in the rearview, that they can stand up to one of the best teams in football, and that they're not going to take shit from anyone. Yes, it's only August. And none of this counts when they're going through the playoff tiebreakers. But for right here, right now, it's the best we could possibly hope for.

The Summer of Hope rolls on.