5 Key Takeaways From New England Patriots-Philadelphia Eagles Joint Practices: Day 2

The New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles returned to the practice fields behind the New Balance Athletics Center today to conclude the most highly anticipated joint practice sessions of the NFL's preseason.

Day one saw the New England’s starters apply pressure through aerial prowess on offense and unrelenting aggressiveness on defense. Drake Maye was nearly flawless, A.J. Brown asserted himself as the best wide receiver on the field, and the Patriots’ defense intercepted Philadelphia quarterbacks five times. In what was billed as a “measuring stick” performance, New England passed their toughest test of the young season with flying colors.

Day two began with a similar outlook, but found more level-ground as the two teams worked more extensively in the red zone. Still, the fireworks were plentiful, and the strengths that the home team displayed on Wednesday were even more apparent with a second full day to prove their merit.

Here are five key takeaways from day two of the Patriots’ joint practice sessions against the Eagles:

New England and Philadelphia opened the first day of joint practices with an intensity that mirrored regular season competition, both on the field and in the stands. With over 12,000 fans in attendance, cheers and boos were a prevalent part of the experience at the practice fields that flank Gillette Stadium. Each side was well-represented, and fed into an amplified energy for both teams competing between the white lines.

That carried over into day two in spades. The primary focus of the second practice session was on the red zone — an area of the field where the Patriots’ struggled on both sides of the ball in 2025, and have been hard at work to rectify this preseason. 

In one-on-ones, New England’s receiving corps stood out in the low red zone with several touchdown grabs. When 11-on-11’s began, it was the Patriots’ rushing attack that set the tone. Rhamondre Stevenson finished through contact on a tackle attempt by Eagles’ cornerback Cooper DeJean and Alijah Vera-Tucker delivered an extra shot at the tail-end of the same play, flaring tempers and stirring some early pushing and shoving to start the day.

Stevenson’s helmet came off just a few minutes later on an Eagles’ run stuff that forced a fumble in the pile at the point of attack, and tensions only rose from there. Play was stopped momentarily after rumbles featuring Christian Barmore, K.J. Britt, and Cory Durden extended well-past the whistle.

From that point on, both sides played with a heightened awareness to not cross-the-line, but that didn’t prevent those momentary conflicts from rearing their heads again throughout the remainder of the day. In a critical area like the red zone, and returning to face the same competition as the day before, nothing less should have been expected — but a highly-entertaining two hours was the result.

The national headliner on day one was wide receiver A.J. Brown, who met his former Eagles’ teammates on the field for the first time since being traded to the Patriots from Philadelphia on June 1. 

On day one, Brown kept his energy directed towards his play — and didn’t disappoint. In 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 team drills, the former three-time All-Pro caught all seven of his targets and asserted himself as the most dominant receiver on either sideline. 

On day two, Brown picked up right where he left off. On the first rep of one-on-ones, he once again took on top cornerback Quinyon Mitchell — this time, catching a fade route to the back left corner of the end zone with one hand while being forced out of bounds. 

Unlike his previous two joint practices, Brown returned for a second rep against Mitchell in two-on-twos, and then a third, and then a fourth. He caught touchdowns on each play: the first on a corner route after generating early separation; the next on a slant, working through contact to pull the ball in at the back line of the end zone; and finally on an out-breaking route toward the front pylon.

The receiver’s high-success rate in the low red area carried over into 11-on-11’s, where Brown wrangled in another contested touchdown grab over Mitchell and turned to hype-up the lively crowd afterwards. It wasn’t all one-sided on Thursday for Brown, however. 

A target to Brown on a slant in the team’s one-minute drill led to quarterback Drake Maye’s second interception of the practice session; the pass glanced off the receiver’s hands and into the diving arms of edge rusher Jalyx Hunt. On their second attempt to convert, Maye hit Romeo Doubs for a 12-yard score and targeted Brown again on the two-point conversion attempt that followed. The sprint-out to Brown near the sideline fell incomplete as he tried to make another leaping one-handed grab, but was ruled out-of-bounds.

The other half of Brown’s success against his former Philadelphia teammates was an outstanding showing from quarterback Drake Maye to begin joint practices.

Lining up across from his greatest external competition of the young season, the third-year gunslinger opened up day one with a statement performance. Maye completed 16 of his 19 passing attempts in 11-on-11 periods including a streak of 13 consecutive to begin the day. Spreading the ball around to a wide variety of targets, Maye’s efficiency against the Eagles’ starters was eye-popping. 

Those highlight-worthy tosses largely rolled over into day two, albeit with much more pushback from the opposition during team drills and a much lower rate of efficiency late.

Patriots’ pass catchers feasted in red zone one-on-ones to get things started on day two, with impressive finishes by Brown, Doubs, Eli Raridon, Efton Chism III, and Mack Hollins. Hollins also grabbed the first touchdown of the day in full team periods on a play-action crossing route from Maye — a concept that has been working well for New England all summer. 

Maye followed that up with scores to Doubs and Brown before showing the first crack in his armor. The Eagles’ were able to apply pressure on the middle of the pocket all morning, resulting in several plays being blown up before getting started. Jordan Davis got home early in 11-on-11’s, causing Maye to misfire on an quick-out to Brown that was intercepted by cornerback Riq Woolen. Maye was later sacked on a play-action boot before overthrowing Kayshon Boutte on a post. His connection with Boutte slowed on Thursday after another highlight-reel grab from the receiver during Wednesday’s practice.

Boutte’s best plays on Thursday came with Tommy DeVito at the helm — one on a crossing route for a chunk gain, and the other on an end zone fade that was tightly contested and drew a defensive pass interference penalty. Kyle Williams’ chemistry with DeVito was also on display, wrangling in a 40-yard touchdown pass on a vertical route over former-Patriot Shaun Wade. DeVito struggled in the red zone, completing just two of his first nine passes, but found more success when the teams spotted the ball back near midfield.

After another hot start to day two for the home team, Philadelphia’s defense was able to rebound and even the score with New England late. Maye finished the day completing 10-of-18 passing attempts with four touchdowns and two interceptions in 11-on-11’s. DeVito wrapped-up joint practices 9-of-16 with three touchdowns and no interceptions on Thursday.

Not only did the Eagles present challenges for the Patriots on the boundary, but along the interior — where their reputation as one of the NFL’s elite in the trenches on both sides of the ball preceded them. 

New England put that to the test during joint practices, beginning with a surprisingly impressive Wednesday outing to kick things off. On offense, the starters held up well in both one-on-ones and team drills with very few decisive losses, wide running lanes for ballcarriers, and clean pockets for Maye to navigate. On defense, the Patriots’ pass rush found life on the interior, the edges, and with the continued use of additional blitzers from the second-level.

While the fireworks lingered in the passing game, the New England offensive line had their hands full containing Philadelphia’s rush on day two. Interior pressure collapsed the pocket for Maye and the backups on several occasions, leading to some errant throws and batted passes at the line of scrimmage.

First-round pick Caleb Lomu continued to work both the left and right side as he tried to bounce back from a shaky performance to open the preseason, but was once again on the wrong end of quick losses on two one-on-one reps against former Buffalo Bills’ rusher A.J. Epenesa. Lomu flipped back to right tackle during team periods, but allowed a sack and pressure on Maye’s interception to Woolen. Sixth-round pick Dametrious Crownover put together a nice showing in those same drills, winning all three of his one-on-one reps. Will Campbell split his reps against Hunt, who put together a strong two days for the Eagles.

New addition Greg Van Roten was involved with the Patriots second-team offense throughout day two, taking snaps at both guard and center as New England tries to plug-up the holes on the interior following the losses of Ben Brown and Andrew Rupcich.

Defensively, the Patriots’ front-seven was active in the backfield early and often against the Eagles’ passing attack yet again. Pressure and a tipped pass from Milton Williams created the first takeaway of the day to kick-off day two of 11-on-11’s. They once again came from all angles, as Kevin Byard III registered a would-be sack on the same play as Elijah Ponder batted a Jalen Hurts’ pass down at the line of scrimmage later on. Ponder would get home again with a sack on Hurts that came just one snap after Cory Durden rumbled into the backfield and one of many skirmishes ensued. He beat offensive tackle Jordan Mailata off-the-snap on the play.

The second-team defense also had success collapsing the pocket. Gabe Jacas showed out for the second-straight day, meeting Joshua Farmer and Leonard Taylor III in the backfield to sack backup quarterback Andy Dalton. In total, New England racked up four would-be sacks on Philadelphia quarterbacks on Thursday, stacking another impressive performance against elite competition in the trenches.

When New England wasn’t wreaking havoc in the backfield on passing downs, they were actively seeking the football out in the air on day one. The Patriots racked up five interceptions on day one of joint practices against the Eagles, with Craig Woodson (2), Marcus Jones, John Saunders Jr., and Kindle Vildor all creating takeaways.

They marched the takeaway machine back out onto the field early on day two, as Marcus Jones started the show with another would-be pick six on the pass that was tipped by Williams at the line of scrimmage. He came back to find the ball again later in practice, registering his second interception of the day and third in the two days of joint practices.

In total, New England hauled in seven interceptions over the last two days, including five on Hurts and the Philadelphia starters. They also showed noticeable improvements defending the run, plugging up holes for running back Saquon Barkley at the line of scrimmage and rallying to the ball from deep in the secondary to negate any breakaway opportunities.

The Eagles may be experiencing their own turbulence in the passing game this preseason, but the Patriots’ knack for finding the football and generating takeaways has been a constant point of emphasis since the onset of the 2026 season. They’ve now made that a trend through two weeks of joint practices and preseason contests.

New England followed up a dominant day one against Philadelphia with another hot start to day two, but the Eagles showed their championship pedigree late and found more level ground with the Patriots as their second round wore on.

The two teams will face-off once more for preseason game number two on Saturday night.

What were your biggest takeaways from New England’s second joint practice with Philadelphia? Drop your thoughts in the comments below and join the conversation on Patriots Roundtable.

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