Patriots coach Mike Vrabel watched his entire season flash before his eyes after a tumultuous offseason.
During 11-on-11 drills Thursday, its final practice of the week, New England apparently turned up the heat but was forced to end early as Drake Maye collided with second-year Edge rusher Bradyn Swinson.
It took Maye a bit to get off the grass, and they ended practice nearly 25 minutes early, according to multiple reports.
Longtime Patriots reporter Tom Curran described Swinson as “over exuberant” during a competitive red-zone series of drills.
“It was one of those over-exuberant pass rushes by Braden Swinson, the second-year player off the edge. There was a completion to AJ Brown,” Curran began telling the story of what happened on WEEI New England radio. “I would say about 25 minutes left in the workout. AJ Brown took it in for a touchdown, but Braden Swinson made a little bit of contact with Drake Maye, and the two of them landed in a heap.
“Mike Vrabel said, ‘Alright, everybody out of the pool.’”
Practice had been scheduled to end around 2:53 p.m. ET, but was called around 2:30 p.m. ET instead by Vrabel.
The Patriots did have Maye throw to a few of his new receivers after the incident to make sure he was ok.
“[After the incident with Swinson] Everybody settled up and that was the end of it,” Curran said. “But Drake Maye, just to put a fine point on it, he did throw after practice to Mack Hollins, Romeo Doubs and a few other guys. There were no traces of any disabilities or anything.”
It appears that Maye is OK after taking the hit, but the WEEI radio hosts were distraught at the idea of their franchise quarterback suffering blows like that.
“To be quite honest, [the report of that Maye hit] kind of scared the snot out of us,” Rich Shertenlieb said to Curran.
New England has had a tumultuous offseason, as Vrabel was embroiled in a highly controversial relationship with former The Athletic reporter Dianna Russini after being caught at an exclusive resort in Sedona, Ariz., despite being married with children to Jen Vrabel.
The situation created a firestorm for the team, and Vrabel missed Day 3 of the NFL Draft for therapy after new photos emerged of the coach and Russini together at a Manhattan bar.
New England did improve its team, though, this offseason as it acquired Brown from the Eaglesl to further improve its pass-catching unit, along with signing Doubs.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
