The New England Patriots came out on fire in Thursday’s final joint practice with the Green Bay Packers, and this time, nobody was there to pour a bucket of ice water on their hot streak.
Patriots quarterback Mac Jones was especially efficient in the practice session, heaving up multiple long throws and exposing Green Bay’s secondary.
But the best play happened later in practice.
Emotions were high on a day when the Patriots were clearly getting the best of the Packers. Patriots linebacker Anfernee Jennings even got kicked out of practice after a brush-up with Packers linebacker Keshawn Banks. So it was a hot-headed day full of shouting and hard-nosed competition.
On one particular sequence, via NESN’s Dakota Randall, Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander shouted at Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers, who was standing on the sideline at the time. Moments after Alexander’s sideline trash talk, Jones gave new meaning to the word savage by hitting wide receiver DeVante Parker for a 50-yard touchdown.
Half of the team ran to the end zone to celebrate after the play.
Great sequence just happened.
Jaire Alexander was getting lined up and jawing loudly with Jabrill Peppers, who was on the sideline. Mike Pellegrino told everyone to cut it out.
Seconds later, Mac Jones hit Parker for a 50-yard TD, and half the team ran to the end zone.
— Dakota Randall (@DakRandall) August 17, 2023
Thursday’s practice was a great turnaround compared to what we saw from the Patriots on Wednesday. Whether they can carry that effort into Saturday’s preseason game remains to be seen.
Things aren’t necessarily perfect, and they might not even be great at the moment. It’s clear this Patriots team still has problems. But they also have more tools and the determination to fix them in 2023.
