Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Blistering: Drake Maye Ignites Patriots Offense | A.J. Brown Explosive TD!

Episode Date: August 17, 2026

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye delivers a blistering camp performance, igniting optimism ahead of joint practices with the Philadelphia Eagles. Maye’s pinpoint accuracy and rapid-fire decision-making linked up with A.J. Brown for a 70-yard touchdown and sparked big gains with Romeo Doubs, signaling a major step forward for the Patriots’ passing attack. Nick Cattles breaks down the offensive chemistry, emerging timing routes between Maye and Doubs, and A.J. Brown’s evolving deep-threat role. The discussion explores Christian Barmore’s return, Christian Gonzalez’s injury status, and the heated linebacker battle featuring Christian Elliss, Chad Muma, K.J. Britt, and Khalil Jacobs. With critical matchups looming against Philadelphia’s loaded defensive front and secondary, all eyes turn to how the Patriots respond in this pivotal training camp week. Will New England’s offense sustain its hot streak against top-tier competition? Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-patriots/ Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, & More 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/leagues/nfl/ #patriots #newenglandpatriots Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Join all the action at https://FANDUEL.COM to play Daily Dingers and make your free pick on who’s hitting a homer this MLB season. KALSHI For a limited time,Download the Kalshi app and use code [LOCKEDON] to get $10 when you trade $10. Square Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at https://square.com/go/lockedonnfl! #squarepod Gametime Today's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Drake May started the biggest week of camp with arguably his best practice of the summer. This is Lockdown Patriots. You are Locked on Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. What's happening? I am your host, Nick Cattels. On today's show, the two most critical practices of the summer are coming up on Wednesday and Thursday. In the second segment, one defensive difference maker returns, while another remains out.

But first, Drake May was simply blistering on Monday. Today's episode is brought to by Fandul. Join all the action at fandul.com to play Daily Dinger's and make your free pick on who's hitting a homer this MLB season. Drake May stole headlines. He stole the show during Monday's practice. he was absolutely unequivocally blistering from the jump. Andrew Callahan posted, May cooked in team drills, Taylor Kyle's, May did not throw an incompletion during the first two team periods. Greg Bedard,

May started nine for nine, five for five on a successful two-minute drill. Phil Perry. May completed 15 of his 17 passes in 11-on-11 work today, showed good pocket mobility and touch to all levels of. of the field and Evan Lizar posting about that two-minute drill at the end of practice wrote, May and the top offense with a great minute 15 drill today, highlighted by a perfectly thrown deep crosser to A.J. Brown.

May got the ball out quickly to beat the pass rush and got the offense into field goal range really sharp. This is exactly, and I mean exactly what you want from the final super competitive practice before you get to those joint practices against Philadelphia on Wednesday and Thursday. This is a huge week for this team, huge week for the quarterback. And to start this week, the way that May started on Monday, it is exactly what him, and I'm sure his teammates and the coaching staff wanted to see from the franchise quarterback. The coolest part of the practice is the fact that May started hot. We've talked about this.

The majority of times where Drake has had a little bit of an iffy practice, had a tough stretch. A lot of those times, it happens right at the beginning of the practice. Not on Monday. Right out of the gates. May was ready and he was hot. He was accurate. Making good decisions. And if this offense can start fast this year, it will put so much pressure on the

opposition. If Drake May has his accuracy from the very first pass attempt of a game, it just feels like he's going to be terrific during that game. And it's very, very tough to cool off Drake May after he gets hot. So if you get early offense, if your offense can start fast, and I'm not talking about starting fast week one, even though, yes, it would be great to see this offense start fast week one against the Seahawks defense with the last time. We know what happen when those two teams were on the football field. But if Drake May can get off to fast starts week after week after week, again, that's going to put the onus on the opposition. And it allows your defense to play on their terms. Then you start talking about takeaways, creating extra

opportunities for that hot offense. And that's when you really pick up some steam. So not only was Drake May blistering, sizzling during Monday's practice, it was right from the very first pass attempt, which to me is even more important. Now, May was not just all by himself, right? When a quarterback is hot, quarterback has a rhythm. He's got it going. Well, that means the offensive line is doing well in front of him. He's not facing a ton of pressure. And it also means that the weapons around that quarterback are also putting together very good days. And what we saw again on Monday, reportedly, was both A.J. Brown and Romeo Dobbs making an impact during practice. Mark Daniels of Mass Live posted, A.J. Brown had the play of the day

with a 70-yard touchdown catch. Evan Lizarre posted, Best Deep Ball Connection of Camp for Drake man, A.J. Brown. Brown ran by Charles Woods on a deep post and may let him perfectly for a long touchdown. Probably, here's the most important part of Evan Lazars post, probably the most separation we have seen from Brown on a vertical route. A lot of the plays that Brown has made, they've been contested catches downfield, they've been contested catches in the red zone, they have been short to intermediate routes, a lot of slant routes. He's not creating a ton of separation with those types of plays. But during Monday's practice, when you catch a 70-yard bomb down the field and you created separation,

that's a different type of play than what we have seen from A.J. Brown during this camp. And if you start to see more completions, and you have started to see more completions, But if you see even more completions to A.J. Brown downfield, that really is the final piece of the puzzle with Drake May and A.J. Brown. With May and Brown, the final piece of the puzzle is consistently finding those strikes downfield to your number one guy. And if you start to see that more often, and it starts to become commonplace almost where, you know, Brown might not be catching 70-yard touchdowns, but he's catching 25. 30-yard throws from his quarterback. You start to see those things pick up as you get closer to week one. It's a good sign. And it feels like those things, those types of plays are starting to be more consistent between May and Brown.

Before I get to Romeo Dobbs, if you're watching us on video, I understand. Okay. The lighting is not spectacular. I don't even know if my mouth is going with my words at certain times. I'm in a hotel in D.C. So as I said during the last podcast, when I recorded from this very hotel room, trying to make chicken salad out of chicken bleat. So if you're watching on the video, I appreciate your patience. If you're listening to the audio, it might drop out from time to time, but it should not be a huge deal.

So again, appreciate every single one of you. Let's get to Romeo Dobbs. On Monday, Romeo Dobbs, again, handful of catches. handful of catches in the first week. We talked about it. He was not off to a great start, getting acclimated. But it's like every single day, you're getting more and more reports about Romeo Dobbs and what he's doing at practice and how he is positively impacting this offense.

And he did it again on Monday. Now, there's a key detail because I know I talked about Dobbs last podcast. I don't want to sit here and spin my wheels on Dobbs. There's a key detail on some of the plays that Dobbs made with May on Monday. It was the types of catches that Dobbs was making. They weren't necessarily the high point catches in the end zone. I'm bigger than you, bully ball like we talked about on the last podcast. This was different.

As Taylor Kyle's noted on Twitter, multiple completions between May and Dobbs were on timing routes. And that, my friends, is crucial. Timing routes. This was not red zone. This was not one-on-one. I'm going to throw it up and my guy is going to beat the defense. These were timing throws within the Josh McDaniels structure of an offense. And just like I talked about with Brown and May, that next step is more consistently doing damage downfield and they have continued to improve in that category. The next. next step, the next phase of the May Dobbs relationship on the field is precisely what Taylor Kyle's posted on Monday. Timing routes. That is the next step between May and Dobbs,

getting that chemistry just right before the season kicks off. Red zone one-on-one, that's one thing. But when you're taught about timing routes within the McDaniels offense, that's critical to the operation. May trusting Dobbs, Dobbs trusting May, Dobbs understanding where he's supposed to be, and most importantly, when is he supposed to be there? Timing rounds. Three of Dobbs's catches, by the way, according to Evan Lazare, came down the field. So again, you had two big plays down the field to AJ Brown. You had three big plays down the field to Romeo Dobbs, and multiple catches from Dobbs were on timing routes. All of this is great stuff. It means that Dobbs and Brown, they continue to put strong work into this camp.

And the more and more they get used to each other, it shouldn't get worse. It should only get better. And as we get ready for week one against Seattle, these guys stay healthy. They continue to string these types of practices along. It could be a very, very exciting early part of this season. but you got to love what Monday's practice brought. Your quarterback was blistering hot. AJ Brown makes his biggest catch of camp,

70-yard touchdown, with great separation. And meanwhile, Romeo Dobbs continues to produce, and now we're talking timing routes. Check, check, chigdy check. The Pat's got a welcome return to team drills today. That and a ton more coming up next. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network.

Now the number one sports podcast network, your team every day. What's going on, everybody? My name is Ross Jackson, host of the Lockdown at Saints podcast. And today's Lockdown episode is brought to you by our friends at Basque and Lather. I've been using Basque and Lather's all natural,

100% organic hair care products for my beard for a couple of years now. And it's been a lifesaver because I used to have some bad beard care habits. I'm talking over-the-counter shampoo and the beard type stuff that created this brittle, scratchy and uncomfortable beard. that I just had to wear around all the time. But now the game done change. Thanks to Basque and Lather. I got their beard care starter kit,

which gave me shampoo, conditioner, oil balm, and their hair growth stimulator formula as well. And now my beard is full. It's soft but strong. And the confidence is on 10. And it's all thanks to Basque and Lather. Explore viral bestsellers and products of healthier hair of all types from Basque and Lather.

Go to baskinlather code.com and use the promo code. on for 20% off. That's 20% off at baskinlather co.com. Code locked. Thank you for making us your first listed and for being an everydayer. We appreciate every single one of you. Next segment, we're going to talk about how crucial this week is to camp and preparing for the Philadelphia joint practices on Wednesday and Thursday. But we have a lot of other notes from Monday's practice that did not include necessarily Drake May, A.J. Brown or Romeo Dobbs. Let's start with Christian Barmore. Christian Barmore has been mostly missing an action over the past week to two weeks. We did see him a little bit last week during the joint practice working in individual drills. Well, on Monday, Christian Barmore returned to practice. Now, he was a full participant, but he was managed heavily. So his workload was much, much lower or less than you would anticipate his workload being.

And we always know this about Christian Barmore since 2024 in the blood clot situation. He is going to get managed. But, you know, during Monday's practice, the management was even more with Christian Barmore. But he was out there. He was out there and he was doing team drills. This was not an individual day working off to the side. This was legitimate team drills, full participant, just not as many of those team snaps as he would normally get. But that's the next step.

It's good news. back on the field. He's in team. And this should set him up, hopefully, fingers crossed, this should set him up to play some type of role during those joint practices on Wednesday and Thursday. Maybe he just goes one of those two days. Maybe he's very limited in the snaps and plays both days. We'll see how it unfolds. We'll see how Christian Bormor responds, you know, Tuesday to being out there. I'm sure he's going to get treatment on Tuesday. And we'll see how he looks during those joint practices on Wednesday and Thursday, and if he's going to take part in both of those days.

Because Christian Barmore, look, he has the potential to play both the pass and the run. And we've seen this run defense specifically, the interior of this defensive line, have a tough time carving out their own space against the run. And Barmore, he could help. He could help. So him getting back sooner rather than later, very important to, this defense, very important to this defensive line. Christian Gonzalez was not at practice on Monday. Now, Mike Vrable met with the media before the practice, and he said that Gonzalez is still in the

quote, return to play, unquote, phase. Now, the Patriots, they have different phases when you're coming back from injury, and you have to get into the return to play phase. And then that next phase is you're out there on the field. So maybe we see Christian Gonzalez on Wednesday, maybe we see him on Thursday, maybe we see him on both Wednesday and Thursday. We have no idea. The Patriots have continued, Mike Vrable has continued to say that Christian Gonzalez is not on the practice field due to a physical ailment. This is not a contracting. Now, of course, the head coach, he could be taking some liberties.

The head coach could be looking at this and saying, well, yeah, he's not 100%. maybe he would be back if he wasn't concerned about, you know, re-injuring himself or turning something that's not a big deal, turning it into a big deal as he's working on this contract negotiation. Both of those things can be true. But I do believe he got nicked up. I do believe Gonzalez got nicked up a week ago during that Romeo Dobbs play that we talked about. I don't think he's 100%. I don't think it's, you know, judging by what Vrable says, I don't think it's anything serious or significant. So you hopefully see Gonzalez during these joint practices against Philly.

And it could be as simple as them just not rushing him back. All right, we have more thoughts from Monday's practice. But first, don't forget, if you're watching us on YouTube, click that thumbs up, give us a like. Don't forget to throw a comment in as well. Those likes and those comments, help us with the algorithm. Shows the product to more eyeballs. So help us out.

We continue to build this community. The next goal is 11,000 subscribers by week one. That's the goal. You've got a long way to go. It's been a slow push the last couple weeks. Let's work hard. Let's get there. 11,000 subs by week one.

Let's keep on, keeping on with the notes from Monday's practice. Christian Ellis. Now, this is interesting because Christian Ellis, he was not out there against Indy, right? He returns over the weekend. He is going through the walkthrough on Sunday. He's out there with the starters on Sunday. Then he's out there for practice on Monday, but he has to leave the practice early.

Was this because of an injury? Not really sure. Maybe he got overheated. But Christian Ellis leaves Monday's practice. And so now we have no idea what to anticipate when it comes to Ellis's participation. Is he going to be out there on Wednesday and Thursday? Is he not going to be out there?

And this is just a fact. A fascinating linebacker battle, especially when you look at the depth at that position, especially considering the situation with Christian Ellis. Because if Ellis is not out there, we're looking at linebacker three, four, maybe even five. And that duel has been pretty interesting throughout this camp. Like Robert Spelaine has set. There's no doubt Robert Spelaine is set. But you've got the Ellis injury that you're dealing with. Chad Muma looked like he was going to be the third guy in that linebacker.

but he was not good against Indy in the preseason game. So Chad Muma's down at the moment as far as stock goes. Khalil Jacobs had a slower first half when he first got in there last week against the Colts in the preseason game. But then he had a really good second half. And he's had a really good camp, especially considering the fact that he's a UDFA. KJ Britt had a good game against Indy with those back-to-back splash plays. So, I mean, if you're looking at the linebacker,

chart, it is like constant movement. It's fluctuating almost every single day. Is Ellis going to be healthy? Is linebacker three now KJ. Britt? Did he leap fraud Chad Muma? Has Muma fallen down? Is he actually below both KJ Britt and Khalil Jacobs? And then we had another name in the mix on Monday because Namdi Obizor actually got some snaps during Monday's practice. with the first team defense. So it just feels like everybody's in the mix here. If you're healthy, you're in the mix. Tad Mumma, he's in a rut right now.

And it looks like, you know, Khalil Jacobs, K.J. Britt, they've picked up some momentum. I think it's rather obvious that NAMD-O-B-I-Zor must be doing good things in the coach's eyes to be elevated to get some snaps with the ones. during this very important week of training camp. I think that says a lot about NAMD-O-B-I-Zor, so he must be doing something right to earn those reps with the ones.

Somebody else who, you know, was noteworthy on Monday was Elijah Ponder. Elijah Ponder had a good day. Evan Lazzar had him charted for two pressures and a run stuff. And, you know, Elijah Ponder went a week, a week plus being very quiet at camp. But starting with the joint practices, you know, that first joint practice of camp against the Colts, Ponder had a good day. And he's backed that up with a few good practices. So it feels like after a little bit of a lull, about a week to 10 days of not really making too many impact plays,

Ponder is starting to come alive over the last week or so. Again, perfect timing for him as you get ready for Philly. We'll see if he can do anything against the Eagles. Greg Bedard noted on Monday that the Patriots offense, they looked improved, including running the football. And I don't want to be a broken record, but we've talked about it. Patriots run defense, Patriots run offense. They've both been inconsistent during this camp.

They've got to be able to establish the run game. We've talked about it since the beginning of this offseason. The signings of Reggie Gilliam and Julian Hill, the things they want to do offensively, that's so, so, so important to this football team and this offense this year. They've got to be able to run the ball consistently. And on Monday, they ran the ball better than they have during this camp. Good.

Now, is it the offense finding its rhythm, got its legs underneath them, or is it the defense not defending the run too well? Could be both, right? Final note, Jesse Luchetta also left practice early on Monday. He left with Ellis. And I actually thought that Jesse Leketa had a good second half against Indy during the first preseason game. So tough timing for him. He's trying to make a push to get onto this 53-man roster.

If he has to miss time this week, that's just awful, awful timing for Jesse Luchetta. Coming up, the Eagles are coming to town. And the paths are staring at their two. two most significant days of practice. This camp coming up this week. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Lockdown Patriots is brought to you by Fandul. Baseball fans, if you think you know who's hitting a homer today,

Fandul is giving you a free chance to call your shot with daily dingers. It's easy to play. Just make your free pick for who you think will hit a home run in their game. If you're right, you'll receive a profit boost to use on your next bet for a chance at extra winnings. Best of all, you can make a free. a free pick every day throughout the MLB season. Daily Dingers, it's another fun way to stay engaged with every day's games, whether you're following your favorite team or keeping an eye on

matchups across the league. Every game has someone capable of going deep. Now you get the chance to make your prediction before first pitch. There are certain players, you know them, who are every at bat feels like something big could happen. And that's what makes daily dingers fun. So are you ready to play your game today? Join all the action at fandul.com. That's fandul.com to play daily diggers and make your free pick on who's hitting a homer, play ball and swing for the fences on Fanduil, an official partner of the MLB. Thanks for checking out the lockdown podcast network, now the number one sports podcast network. We have circled the Philadelphia joint practices ever since the practice schedule came out. When we saw that the Patriots would have two

joint practices against the Eagles on August 19th and 20th, respectively, we, circled those dates. And it wasn't just about the AJ Brown drama and A.J. Brown going against his former team. Of course, that's going to be a big storyline over the next few days. But that's not the reason why we circled these two dates. This is, simply put, the most critical week of football for this team before they kick off in Seattle on September 9. This is the most critical week. And that's why, as I talked about in the first segment, Drake May, looking like he was on Monday, A.J. Brown and Romeo Dobbs getting it going. That is great momentum heading in to these two huge, these two ginormous days of practice on Wednesday and Thursday. I mean,

Philadelphia is just super talented. We know that. Pauway Roseman's done a great job building that roster from the inside out. They're super talented on both sides of the football. And this is going to be a measuring test for the paths, right? This is going to be that litmus test. You go back a couple of years ago and, you know, Philadelphia Eagles joint practices didn't go great. And that kind of led to what we saw play out. Last week, you had a pretty even joint practice against Indy. Philly is better than Indy. I'd say Philly is much better than Indianapolis. So this is a step

up in the competition. And Nick Siriani, if you're wondering, if you're going to go out to Gillette, and I am going to be out there at Gillette on Wednesday and Thursday to take in these practices, if you're going to be out there, you're going to see Philadelphia starters. Because they are going to take this seriously. Nick Siriani said as much.

Zach Berman posted this over the weekend. Siriani, when discussing sitting starters sums up what you need to know about how the Eagles approach the preseason. Quote, we've got a big week this week coming up and the ones are going to get a lot of reps in New England for the joint practices, unquote. So it's not only a big week for the Patriots, the Eagles are treating this like their biggest week of camp. As Nick Siriani said, we've got a big week this week coming up in the ones, the starters are going to get a lot of reps.

during these joint practices. So this is no joke. Both teams are going to have their starters out there. I think both teams are going to play a ton of snaps with their starters during these two joint practices. And this is going to be, you could argue, as close to a regular season vibe as you can get before you get to the regular season. So we're just talking about a monumental, monumental challenge for the Patriots, and especially a monumental challenge for the Patriots offensive line.

I mean, you think about the Eagles and Terrier on that defensive line with Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter. I mean, my freaking goodness, two monsters in the middle of that defensive line who can get after it and will get after it. You want to see how Jared Wilson goes against those two dudes. You know, how does he play against those guys? Elijah Barrett Tucker is the rust completely off. You got to get it going. Michael Wenow, time to step up, right? I mean, the interior of your offensive line, we've talked about it.

The depth has been obviously a weakness of this team during camp. But you need your three guys on that starting offensive line. Vera Tucker, Wilson, and Owenu, you need those three guys to be at their best during Wednesday and Thursday. Or they are going to get owned. They will get owned by Davis and Carter. Those guys are that good. And then you got the past rushers. You got the edge rushers.

Jailix Hunt could be a problem. Nolan Smith could be a problem. Arnold Ebikiki is somebody who I wanted the Patriots to sign during the offseason. Well, he's with the Eagles. I mean, you've got, you know, five or six guys on this defensive line that can attack the quarterback. It's a challenge for drag. break may make sure you're set up at the line of scrimmage make sure that the communication is what it needs to be make sure you're seeing it before it happens now jonathan granard is on the pup so you get a

slight break with jonathan granard not practicing but this is still just i mean so much talent up front for philly's defense and you got the patriots receivers going against the philadelphia corners and the philadelphia corners are also no freaking joke i mean the patriots we talked to about it on the last podcast, right? Bulleyball, big receivers. Well, Quinyon Mitchell is six feet a buck 93, so he's not a tiny corner. And then you've got Rik Wullen, we saw him in Seattle, six foot four, 210 pounds. You've got two good outside corners. Rick Wollin had a down season last year. He's on a one-year contract. He's on a prove-it type deal. So you can expect his best. So Rieck Wollen and Quignon Mitchell on the outside.

And then you've got Cooper DeGine against Pop Douglas. Cooper DeGine's the nickelback for Philly this year. So, I mean, you're just talking about so many fascinating fun matchups to watch during these two joint practices. The Patriots' run defense is going to be tested. As I just mentioned, they haven't been great. They haven't been consistent. Philadelphia's offensive line is good. Sequan Barkley, he wasn't as good in 25 as he was in 24.

but he's still a really good back. So, I mean, there's just so many things that we're looking for during these two joint practices, including Trayvion Henderson. I talked about the pass rush and Philly may be playing some games up front. When Trayvion Henderson is out there, he's going to show marked improvement and pass protection against this Eagles team. And you're like, you can't mess around. And Mike Vrable spoke with the media on Monday.

He said that Wednesday's joint practice is going to be full field work, mostly. and Thursday's practice is primarily going to be a red zone day. So Wednesday, full field practice, Thursday, a lot of attention in the red zone. But get ready. Get ready for the biggest two practices of the summer. The atmosphere should be absolutely electric. When you talk about practices, when you talk about training camp practices, the atmosphere on Wednesday and Thursday should be awesome.

That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C. Radio. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe 11,000 subscribers. That next goal for YouTube. Thank you for making Lockdown Patriots your first listen today. For your second listen, check out the Lockdown NFL scouting program with Kyle Crabs and Joe Marino. They'll make you the most informed NFL fan this preseason fine. Lockdown NFL scouting on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Have a fantastic day. We'll see you next. time to talk about these joint practices.