FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts got their first taste of competition Tuesday as the teams held a joint practice in Foxborough ahead of their preseason matchup Thursday.
The practice featured one-on-one battles, competitive 11-on-11 drills and a brief dust-up between players from both teams.
“We got some work in today. We definitely got some things we need to correct and continue to get better at, but it was just a good day’s work,” Patriots defensive lineman Milton Williams said.
Patriots coach Mike Vrabel said the joint practice provided the team with an opportunity to work through a variety of situations against an opponent other than its own teammates.
“These are great opportunities for good reps, for individual reps, for team reps, red zone, situational work,” Vrabel said.
The Patriots’ receivers appeared to win a majority of their one-on-one reps against the Colts’ secondary, putting the team’s wide receiver competition on full display.
“I think you just learn about who’s kind of stepping up to the occasion. I think a lot of guys responded today. A lot of different guys made please, a lot of guys in the Red Sox need please, and I think you just see time and time again when we can use everybody how hard it is on the defense,” quarterback Drake Maye said.
Rookie wide receiver Efton Chism said the competition among the receivers has not taken away from the group’s support for one another.
“Shoot, everyone cares about each other. You know, obviously we all know it’s a competition at the end of the day, but we all want to see each other succeed, so when we see each other making plays out there you see everyone celebrating so I think that’s the cool thing about this room,” Chism said.
There was a brief dust-up between a couple of Colts and Patriots players on the sideline near the end of practice. The incident did not amount to much, but there was also substantial trash talk surrounding scoring plays during 11-on-11 drills.
“We listen to our coach, so I mean everyone kind of knew what the plan was and the objective. Come out here and practice hard but be smart and don’t do anything that’s going to hurt our team so there wasn’t too much conversation. I think we have guys who are competitive but guys also know how to make smart decisions,” Patriots defensive back Dell Pettus said.
One notable personnel development came on the Patriots’ side. Cornerback Christian Gonzalez was not visibly present at practice Tuesday after participating fully throughout camp.
Gonzalez is still waiting on a new contract from the Patriots, raising questions about whether his absence could mark the beginning of a holdout.
The Patriots and Colts are scheduled to meet Thursday in their preseason game.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
©2026 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7QOJU3BNCJERBNKJC5LWTBYFLU.png)
