Patriots Daily: Atonio Mafi Struggles and Other Overreactions

Day 6 of New England Patriots’ training camp Tuesday saw several players missing or limited in practice. Matthew Judon was not seen at the team’s facilities, presumably unhappy about his contract situation. Christian Barmore’s treatment for blood clots kept him away as well. Three players on the PUP list, Cole Strange, Jake Andrews, and Sione Takitaki, were not seen at practice either. The sixth missing player at practice was starting center David Andrews, who was also absent from Monday’s session.

Andrew Callahan of The Boston Herald reports that David Andrews, “missed his second straight practice due to a personal issue, but is not expected to be out long-term, per source.” Hopefully whatever personal issue the team captain is dealing with is not too serious and he will return to the field soon. In the interim, it has allowed others to get some reps at center.

Absence Brings Opportunity

Nick Leverett and Atonio Mafi saw action at center over the past two days. Both are guards attempting to transition to center. Jerod Mayo stressed that versatility is important for his offensive linemen. If they can play guard, he wants them to be able to play center as well. This is especially important for non-starters looking to make the 53-man roster as reserves. Jake Andrews was drafted as a center in 2023 but has yet to get on the field during training camp. UDFA Charles Turner III is also in camp. He played center throughout his collegiate career at LSU.

Leverett clearly enjoys the advantage over Mafi over the past two days. Atonio Mafi appeared in all 17 games for the Patriots as a rookie a year ago with five starts. He played left guard, replacing Cole Strange when the starter was injured. However, Mafi struggled last season at guard and has not appeared to be in the mix to start in 2024 even with Strange remaining sidelined. Sidy Sow moved over from right guard to the left side as part of the first unit thus far. Atonio Mafi really struggled with long snaps, doing no favors for QB Drake Maye. Mafi’s underwhelming play at center, albeit in a small sample size, could cause some questions about his ability to stick with the New England Patriots.

Teams giving up on second-year draft picks is not ideal, but with new people calling the shots in Foxboro this season, there is less attachment to when or where players from previous years were acquired. This puts players like Jake Andrews and Atonio Mafi in a “prove it” position if they want to stick around.

Unnecessary Overreactions Early in Camp

Boston is known as a difficult sports media market and has been for generations. Tough criticism is often warranted and understandable. High expectations are fine. Trying to bury a rookie less than a week into their first training camp is not my cup of tea.

“I think if you gave them (the Patriots staff) truth serum, they’re surprised he’s so far behind Jacoby (Brissett) at this point,” one reporter opined about Drake Maye.

“Yes, I’ll say it: Joe Milton has outplayed Drake Maye through six practices,” said another.

Yesterday marked the sixth day of training camp. None of the quarterbacks have looked great. The offense hasn’t looked great. Drake Maye hasn’t looked great. That’s all fair. But it’s not suprising Brissett would be ahead of Maye or newsworthy that Milton has outplayed him to date. Anyone trying to draw major negative conclusions about Drake Maye based on six practices is making an unnecessary reach. It comes off as the type of silly pot-stirring that gives all of us a bad name.

If people are looking to draw major conclusions based on the start of camp, how about celebrating how great players like Ja’Lynn Polk and Keion White have looked thus far?

Also in Wednesday’s Patriots Daily:

Patriots Fact of the Day

Jerod Mayo is the seventh Patriots head coach to start a season with no prior NFL head coaching experience. A look at how the others have fared in their first year:

1960 – Lou Saban (5-9)
1969 – Clive Rush (4-10)
1973 – Chuck Fairbanks (5-9)
1982 – Ron Meyer (5-4)
1990 – Rod Rust (1-15)
1991 – Dick MacPherson (6-10)

The six rookie coaches combined for a 26-57 record (.313 winning percentage). Jerod Mayo and the New England Patriots only need to go 6-11 to improve this overall record.

Post of the Day

The New England Patriots offense hasn’t had a lot of good press in training camp, but this was a beautiful throw and catch from Jacoby Brissett to Ja’Lynn Polk in yesterday’s practice:

Corner pocket 1️⃣@JBrissett12 | @jpolk_22 pic.twitter.com/3ERslmxgKK

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) July 30, 2024

Kelley: Matthew Judon Putting Patriots in a No-Win Situation – Judon left practice on Monday after sitting on the sideline and having exchanges with head coach Jerod Mayo and team executive Matt Groh. He did not appear at Tuesday’s practice. Now the new regime in New England is in a n0-win situation trying to rectify the situation with their unhappy linebacker.

Training Camp Competition: Patriots Wide Receivers Room – Only three players appear locks to make the 53-man roster out of camp from this group. Will Kendrick Bourne be healthy enough to get activated for Week 1? Do they move on from 2023 free agent signing JuJu Smith-Schuster? What about young wideouts Tyquan Thornton and Kayshon Boutte?

Patriots 90-Man Roster Spotlight: Calvin Anderson – Last year Calvin Anderson battled malaria in training camp. When he was recovered from that he dealt with a heart contusion. Hopefully 2024 brings more luck to the offesnive tackle as he battles for a roster spot in New England.

NFL Coverage

CBS Sports – They rank the NFL quarterbacks by tiers. I want to state for the record that I disagree with these rankings from the start, as Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes belongs in his own tier. Rookies (including Drake Maye) are in the bottom tier. See where everyone landed on the rankings.

NFL.com – Chicago Bears wide receiver D.J. Moore got paid. He signed a four-year $110 million extension, the most lucrative in franchise history. Will his $27.5 million annual salary help set the bar for some of the other unhappy wideouts around the NFL?

Steelers Now – Rookie Roman Wilson appears to have avoided a major injury. The wide receiver got carted off the field at practice but reports are promising. Pittsburgh expects Wilson to miss just two weeks after an incident that could have ended much worse.

Boston Bruins

Boston Hockey Now – Andrew Fantucchio reports on division rivals threatened by the Boston Bruins. They haven’t brought home a Stanley Cup since 2011 but remain annual championship contenders. See what writers around the division have to say about trying to take down the Bruins.

PFN+

Subscribe here or on Boston Hockey Now to get a subscription to both sites. Subscribers get bonus coverage such as NFL Draft scouting reports and weekly NFL Power Rankings. It also provides a completely ad-free experience on the sites.

Use code KELLEY10 and get $10 off a yearly subscription. New England Patriots and Boston Bruins coverage with zero ads and bonus content for less than 8¢ a day!