RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – On Tuesday, the New England Patriots welcomed the Indianapolis Colts to Gillette Stadium for an exciting joint practice that provided numerous players with key opportunities.
Here are the takeaways:
1. A.J. Brown leaves Sauce Gardner in the dust
After both teams held individual drills, they joined together on the upper fields and took part in 1-on-1s to kick things off. Up first: A.J. Brown and Colts star cornerback Sauce Gardner. In the end, it was Brown who won this rep, as Gardner couldn't keep up with the receiver and almost fell over trying to cover him.
It drew a large reaction from the crowd and even led to a response from Gardner on X following practice.
"All this from a 1 on1 rep?” Gardner posted on his X account with a laughing, crying emoji. “And a(n) 8 yard sit route at that? It’s a reason that’s the only one y’all saw,” he concluded with a sleeping face and lock emoji.
However, he has since deleted the post.
A.J. Brown just DUSTED Sauce Gardner in 1v1s🔥 Patriots fans in attendance LOVE IT - @CLNSMedia pic.twitter.com/0g1GBXTSjf
— Patriots on CLNS (@PatriotsCLNS) August 11, 2026 DeMario Douglas also had an impressive 1-on-1 rep against Justin Walley, going high and grabbing the ball before falling to the ground, maintaining possession for the completion. Efton Chism and Kyle Williams also had success, creating seperation from their defender.
2. Patriots and Colts trade interceptions in one-minute drills
To end practice, Drake Maye and Tommy DeVito both got the opportunity to lead a two-minute drill with 1:12 on the clock and the offense needing a touchdown.
For Maye, he started with back-to-back completions to Douglas, but then was faced with all his receivers being covered, so instead he kept the ball for a quarterback scamble. From there, they had 27 seconds remaining, but a false start pushed them back. Maye then hit Efton Chism, who was able to get out of bounds, but they still were facing second-and-long with 25 seconds left. His next throw was a deep pass to DeMario Douglas in the back of the end zone, but the ball was underthrown and as a result was easily intercepted by Colts safety Camryn Bynum.
“I believe maybe it had been second down,” Maye said. “I got to protect the football. We were second and maybe 13. We had a false start, and you’ve got 25 seconds left. We got no timeouts trying to score a touchdown. So I gave a shot to the end zone and got to give our guys a chance.”
As for DeVito, his turn ended early, but for a very good reason. On the first play of his drive, he hit Mack Hollins for a 50-plus-yard touchdown pass, with the receiver being left wide open on what appeared to be a coverage bust.
As for the Colts, Daniel Jones led a successful drive, finishing things up with a three-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Josh Downs. But for Riley Leonard, he ended up throwing an interception, with Patriots safety John Saunders Jr. coming away with the ball.
3. Cornerback depth is tested
With Gonzalez absent as well as Carlton Davis and Charles Woods limited, the top three cornerbacks on the depth chart weren't out there to go up against the Colts. With that, it was Kindle Vildor and Kobee Minor who started, but rookie Karon Prunty came in at one point to replace Minor.
With that, they were certainly tested, and it seemed like the Colts had a leg up over the secondary throughout the entire practice. The run defense also struggled at times, specifically as they were without Christian Barmore. However, some nice plays throughout the day included pass breakups from Bradyn Swinson, Elijah Ponder and Marcellas Dial. Ponder also drew a hold and recorded a strip-sack.
4. Tommy '2 Chains' DeVito does it again
Tommy DeVito has put together an impressive camp this summer after signing an extension with the Patriots, and on Tuesday, he was leaving it all out there. DeVito had a few highlight-reel plays, including a 50-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Williams, who was able to split a pair of Colts defenders. He added touchdown passes to tight ends Eli Raridon and Hunter Henry.
Then, during his two-minute drill, he had the deep pass to Hollins.
“2 Chains is doing a nice job,” Vrabel said. “He continues to learn, and with it being a new system, I think it got his attention a little bit better, as opposed to saying, “Hey, I know what this is,” and kind of taking it for granted. I think he’s really done a nice job.“
5. Some pushing and shoving
FIGHT! (ish)
After one of the live kick return reps, Colts defensive end Durrell Nchami lost his helmet along the sideline and appeared to throw a punch. Multiple Patriots players jumped in to protect their teammates, including Dre’Mont Jones and Quintayvious Hutchins. However, it was quickly broken up, and Nchami appeared to have been removed from practice.
Vrabel addressed the possibility of fights with the team before practice, making it clear it would not be tolerated.
"We just have to be able to play and make great decisions after the whistle," he explained. "We don’t want to do anything that puts anybody in jeopardy. We want them to compete. Obviously, there’s going to be some pushing and shoving... I want us to play as physical as we can and be as competitive as we can, but also be smart and try to take care of each other and understand that we have to go back and figure out a way to play the next snap because that’s what happens in a game."
6. Quarterback stats
Drake Maye: 15/23 INT in 11s, 4/6 in 7s
Tommy DeVito: 11/16 in 11s, 2/6 in 7s
Behren Morton didn't take any snaps, which could signify that the plan is for him to have the most reps in Thursday's game.
7. Attendance
Absent: CB Christian Gonzalez, S Mike Brown, WR Kyle Dixon
Limited: CB Carlton Davis, DL Christian Barmore, CB Charles Woods, LS Julian Ashby, OT Morgan Moses
PUP/NFI: ED Harold Landry III, S Brenden Schooler
Christian Gonzalez was a surpr...
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