FOXBORO — Jerod Mayo insists there’s a quarterback competition in Foxboro.

Jacoby Brissett remains the clear leader, having started both of the Patriots’ preseason games and taken every first-team rep through 16 practices. Brissett also out-performed Drake Maye in at least a dozen of those workouts. But lately, it appears, he’s losing ground.

Maye has out-played Brissett in three straight practices, dating back to a joint session with the Eagles last Tuesday. On Sunday, the second of two padded practices during this stretch, Maye went 5-of-6 in full-team drills and finished 10-of-15 overall. He tossed multiple touchdown passes in a tight red-zone period, and later found K.J. Osborn deep; growing signs of his comfort in an offense that earlier this summer had him operating like a Checkdown Charlie.

Meanwhile, Brissett rallied from a 1-of-6 start in team periods to finish 10-of-19 overall after running the day’s only two-minute drill. He completed half of his passes on that drive, setting up a 44-yard Chad Ryland field goal. Brissett shared his starting offensive linemen with Maye for a second straight practice, which may have contributed to four would-be sacks he took in team periods.

But even before Sunday’s practice, Brissett owned a marginally higher sack rate. Meaning even before Maye began receiving comparable protection in practice, he was better at escaping pressure than Brissett, who otherwise had been passing more accurately and aggressively in team drills. But if that’s changed, as seen lately, perhaps the competition will, too.

Elsewhere at practice, the Patriots are running low on tight ends, an unknown receiver made the best catch of camp, the kicking competition has a new favorite and the offensive line’s shuffling continued.

Here are the Herald’s complete practice observations:

Attendance

New England Patriots defensive tackle Davon Godchaux (92) and other linesmen take instructions as the Patriots hold practice at Gillette on Aug. 1. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)

Absent: TE Hunter Henry, TE Austin Hooper, OT Calvin Anderson, C/G Nick Leverett, OLB Oshane Ximines, DL Armon Watts, WR JaQuae Jackson, S Marte Mapu, DL Christian Barmore

Limited: DL Davon Godchaux, TE Mitchell Wilcox, CB Shaun Wade, CB Azizi Hearn

PUP: WR Kendrick Bourne, LB Sione Takitaki, OL Cole Strange

Notes: All of the players who missed Saturday’s non-padded workout also sat out Sunday. Defensive tackle Armon Watts was newly absent.

All together, these absences left the Patriots notably short at tight end, offensive tackle, defensive tackle, edge rusher and cornerback. Third-string tight end Mitchell Wilcox came up gimpy with an apparent right-leg injury during an early 7-on-7 drill and did not return. Godchaux stood watching the final team periods, possibly after a small dust-up with center David Andrews. Either way, he was limited.

Of note: Jerod Mayo recently said he does not expect Henry’s injury to keep him out long-term.

Play of the Day

Baker’s helmet catch

Foxboro, MA – New England Patriots cornerback Alex Austin defends Kawaan Baker during training camp at Gillette Stadium. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

Rare is a Joe Milton deep ball underthrown. Even rarer is the type of catch little-known wideout Kawaan Baker used to reel in such a throw on Sunday.

Working 1-on-1 against rookie corner Marcellas Dial, Baker sped downfield and stopped roughly 30 yards down the left sideline as Milton’s pass descended. He leapt, caught the ball with both hands behind Dial’s helmet and pinned to his teammate as the two crashed to the ground. Then Baker immediately wrestled it away to complete his miraculous catch, as all of his offensive teammates rushed to him in celebration.

Player of the Day

K Joey Slye

A kicker? Yep.

With music blaring and the entire team circled around him, Slye went a perfect 4-for-4 on field goal attempts at the end of practice and likely pushed ahead in his position competition with Chad Ryland. Slye hit from 45, 49, 52 and 55 yards out, while Ryland missed his 49- and 55-yard attempts.

Slye has also made field goals from 42, 45 and 51 yards in the preseason. Including those kicks, he is now 33-of-39 overall this summer compared to Ryland’s 31-of-36.

QB Corner

New England Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett throws during a joint training camp with the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

Note: The passing stats below were tallied during competitive 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 periods only. The stats in parentheses represent the quarterbacks’ camp-long performance.

Jacoby Brissett: 10-of-19, 4 sacks (156-of-240 — 65.0%, 6 INTs, 26 sacks)

Drake Maye: 10-of-15, sack (135-of-218 — 61.9%, 5 INTs, 20 sacks)

Notes: The Patriots opened with a 7-on-7 drill in the tight red zone (snapping at the 2-yard line), then moved to 11-on-11 work in the same area, backed out for full-field 7-on-7s and 11-on-11s before closing with Brissett’s two-minute drill.

Maye enjoyed an even day throughout, while Brissett couldn’t complete a single pass at the start. He went 0-of-4 in the tight red zone 7-on-7s, with misfires high, low and out of bounds. Open receivers were hard to spot, though Brissett seemed to miss a couple brief windows with DeMario Douglas springing free over the middle.

Maye followed with a 3-of-5 showing, finding Tyquan Thornton for an out-route touchdown, K.J. Osborn on the move in the end zone and Javon Baker over the middle on his final rep. The Osborn and Baker completions sandwiched misses intended for Baker on a well-defended fade and tight end Mitchell Wilcox on a possible throwaway.

Patriots rookie QB Drake Maye continues to ascend in final days of training camp

In the ensuing 11-on-11 red-zone drill, both quarterbacks made a few hand-offs and found rookie tight end Jaheim Bell for touchdowns. Maye failed to connect with Baker again, but hit Ja’Lynn Polk over the short middle.

Next, it was Brissett’s time to find Polk, who won a jump ball over cornerback Marco Wilson during a 7-on-7 period. Brissett completed all four passes there, while Maye had two throws batted away, courtesy of young corners Alex Austin and Marcellas Dial. Maye took a sack on his only dropback of the ensuing, run-heavy 11-on-11 period, when Brissett struck downfield to Douglas, took a few sacks of his own on unblocked pressure and connected on a screen.

Maye’s last snaps featured a deep throw to Osborn over Marcus Jones, Kayshon Boutte slant completion against Austin and Douglas out-route connection versus Jones again. Brissett’s hurry-up series went as follows: checkdown to Rhamondre Stevenson, incompletion for Douglas against Christian Gonzalez, two hand-offs, a curl-route completion to Polk, hand-off, throwaway, slant pass to Thornton, timeout with 37 seconds left, incompletion for Polk, a wide receiver screen to Polk and incompletion over Polk and Bell that appeared to involve a miscommunication.

Studs

OLB William Bradley-King

It’s likely too little, too late for the former practice-squad member to make the 53-man roster, but Bradley-King was one of the best defenders on the field Sunday. He tallied a sack of Maye, pressured Milton into a scramble and beat rookie tackle Caedan Wallace badly in 1-on-1 pass rush.

CB Christian Gonzalez

New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez # points to the sky during training camp at Gillette Stadium. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

Now that’s more like it. Gonzalez, the Patriots’ No. 1 corner, didn’t allow a catch on three targets. He also blanketed DeMario Douglas down the stretch, shadowing him during Brissett’s two-minute drill to end practice.

TE Jaheim Bell

The seventh-round rookie saw his greatest workload in a practice to date, running with the first, second and third-team offenses. He caught touchdowns from Brissett, Maye and Milton during an initial red-zone period.

Duds

WR Javon Baker

It’s safe to say Baker has been slumping of late. After a tough preseason game Thursday, he saw a single target Saturday and kept running with the third-team offense Sunday. Baker also saw some second-team reps, but catching one of five targets, including two that were broken up, won’t inspire the coaches to give him a promotion any time soon.

OG Sidy Sow

It’s been curious to watch Sow, who appeared to be tracking for a Year 2 leap early in camp, rotate out of the team’s starting offensive line after three snaps in 11-on-11 periods. Not only that, but he took a bad loss to backup defensive tackle Trysten Hill in 1-on-1 pass rush and may be dealing with a hand injury.

Offensive notes

New England Patriots wide receiver K.J. Osborn #2 makes a catch during training camp at Gillette Stadium. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

Top targets in team drills: WR Ja’Lynn Polk 4/7, WR DeMario Douglas 4/5, WR K.J. Osborn 4/5, WR Javon Baker 1/5, TE Jaheim Bell 3/3, WR Tyquan Thornton 2/3
Drops: N/A
Top offensive line: LT Vederian Lowe, LG Sidy Sow, C David Andrews, RG Mike Onwenu, RT Chukwuma Okorafor

Quarterbacks

More limited reps for Milton and Zappe. They combined for 5 snaps during an initial 11-on-11 red-zone period, and each threw a touchdown pass to a tight end (Milton to Bell and Zappe to Jacob Warren).
Later, in a full-field 11-on-11 drill, Milton took the three quarterback reps after Brissett and Maye; finding Baker on the Play of the Day, executing a run play and scrambling.

Running backs

One of the best rushing days of camp. Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson both burst through the middle of the line for long gains in team periods.
Stevenson’s vision on two cutback runs was a highlight, as was how quickly Gibson holes that opened up, particularly off the right side.
Neither player factored as a receiver. Same for Kevin Harris, JaMycal Hasty and Terrell Jennings.
Hasty picked up a nasty safety blitz in the opening 11-on-11 period, earning a pat on the helmet from Maye. Later, in the same period, Jennings hit an outside zone run for a touchdown.

Wide receivers

New England Patriots wide receivers Ja’Lynn Polk #1 and Javon Baker #6 work on their high fives during training camp at Gillette Stadium. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

More snaps, more targets, more Polk.
The Patriots are feeding their second-round rookie, who is finally taking regular reps with the starting group and saw a team-high seven targets.
Polk didn’t start every period, instead rotating with K.J. Osborn, Tyquan Thornton and DeMario Douglas. That group of veterans opened with Brissett in his two-minute drill.
Douglas has seen exactly five targets in each of the team’s last three practices. He stands out from this group in every aspect, from separation to production and route-running.
On the other hand, fourth-round rookie Javon Baker struggled to get on the same page with his quarterbacks. Maye often looks to him deep, but that connection has waned lately.
Kayshon Boutte and Jalen Reagor finished with oen catch apiece in team drills.

Tight ends

Down goes another one. Third-stringer Mitchell Wilcox left practice with an apparent right leg injury before he could finish the opening 7-on-7 drill and did not return.
Wilcox’s absence allowed seventh-round rookie Jaheim Bell to seize a rare opportunity with the starting offense and he took advantage. Of note: all three of Bell’s touchdowns came on a flat route.
Behind them, future cutdown day casualties La’Michael Pettway and Jacob Warren combined for a single catch in team periods. Warren, who made the grab, also fumbled in a 1-on-1 tackling drill midway through practice.

Eliot Wolf praises Vederian Lowe, defends Patriots’ offensive line performance

Offensive line

Ready. set, rotate.
For a second consecutive practice, the Patriots tinkered with their top O-line after opening with the same personnel that’s started most of the last 10 practices. (See above.)
After three snaps in most 11-on-11 periods, rookie guard Layden Robinson and rookie offensive tackle Caedan Wallace replaced Sidy Sow and Chukwuma Okorafor at left guard and right tackle, respectively.
Okorafor and Sow blocked for Maye’s second-team offensive line, which also rotated at a few spots. Most notably, Okorafor repped at left tackle, Mike Onwenu kicked out to right tackle and even Vederian Lowe worked at left tackle for short stretches with Maye.
Unlike Saturday’s practice, the Patriots did not play Maye with their entire starting line for a single series, but he took more total reps Sunday with multiple O-line starters than any other practice to date.
It bears repeating: the Patriots were down backup center/guard Nick Leverett and offensive tackle Calvin Anderson, which may have factored into the rotations.
It also bears repeating that pulling Okorafor and Sow from the starting group doesn’t seem to remedy any injury problems, and Robinson played well in both preseason games.
As for Wallace, the other rookie, he started Brissett’s entire two-minute drill at right tackle, replacing Okorafor.
With Leverett out, ex-UFL/CFL/XFL guard Liam Fornadel, who botched two snaps in the last preseason game, played backup center, with undrafted rookie Charles Turner following him.

Defensive notes

Foxboro, MA -New England Patriots William Bradley King on the field with the defense during training camp at Gillette Stadium. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

Starting and second-string personnel during team periods: defensive linemen Davon Godchaux, Deatrich Wise, Keion White, Armon Watts, Daniel Ekuale, Trysten Hill, Sam Roberts and Jeremiah Pharms Jr.; linebackers Jahlani Tavai, Ja’Whaun Bentley, Raekwon McMillan, Josh Uche, Anfernee Jennings, Christian Elliss, Joe Giles-Harris, William Bradley-King and Oshane Ximines; defensive backs Kyle Dugger, Jabrill Peppers, Christian Gonzalez, Jonathan Jones, Alex Austin, Jaylinn Hawkins, Isaiah Bolden, Azizi Hearn, Marco Wilson, Dell Pettus and Brenden Schooler.
Interceptions: None
Pass breakups: Austin 2, Dial
Would-be sacks: Team 2, Bradley-King, Dugger, Jennings

Defensive linemen

The Patriots experimented again with a three-defensive tackle front, starting Davon Godchaux, Daniel Ekuale and Jeremiah Pharms Jr. in their initial 11-on-11 period. Godchaux and Pharms Jr. powered a heavy rush on the third snap, forcing a “team” sack of Brissett.
Later, Godchaux’s limited snaps and Armon Watts’ absence allowed Trysten Hill to see more snaps. Hill started opposite Brissett during his two-minute drill, and scored a nice win against left guard Sidy Sow during 1-on-1 pass rush earlier in practice.
Tough showing for Deatrich Wise during individual pass rush, losing to undrafted rookie Zuri Henry and stumbling later against Chukwuma Okorafor. Wise, however, was among the first off the sideline to join the starting group in 11-on-11s.
The best rep in 1-on-1 pass rush belonged to Ekuale, who turned Mike Onwenu and drove him back for a clear win as the horn sounded.

NFL Notes: Patriots betting big on Jerod Mayo’s coaching staff

Linebackers

For now, Anfernee Jennings appears to be the Patriots’ starting replacement for Matthew Judon. And so far, Jennings is rewarding the staff for its faith in him.
He tallied a run stuff and a sack Sunday, playing in fronts with three defensive tackles and others with only two.
Quiet days for Ja’Whaun Bentley and Jahlani Tavai, who continue to start all 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 periods.

Defensive backs

Aside from Christian Gonzalez posting a shutout in coverage, the most notable development was where Gonzalez lined up to finish practice.
Consistently an outside corner, the coaching staff put him over the slot for Brissett’s two-minute drill. There, he faced DeMario Douglas and had no problems with the Pats’ presumed No. 1 receiver.
Opposite Gonzalez, the Pats rotated Alex Austin and Marco Wilson at outside corner in different team drills. Austin started the initial 11-on-11 period, while Wilson played in the two-minute drill.
Jonathan Jones resumed his role as glue guy of the secondary, even taking some reps with the third-team defense to patch holes at slot corner and safety. He can play every position.
Not a great day for Marcus Jones, who may have competition for the starting nickelback job if his performance doesn’t improve. Jonathan Jones also played over the slot for stretches Sunday.
Would you believe Dugger, who went untouched on a blitz against Brissett, is now tied for the team lead in sacks this summer with four? It’s true.

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Special teams

The Patriots upped the difficulty of Sunday’s field goal attempts, forcing Ryland and Slye to attempt longer kicks with pressure from the surrounding sound and their teammates.
Ryland built an early lead at the start of training camp, but that has seemingly been erased. It will be interesting to see how the staff divides field goal attempts in the preseason finale at Washington.
Punt returners: DeMario Douglas, Jalen Reagor, K.J. Osborn, Ja’Lynn Polk, David Wallis
Punt team: P Bryce Baringer, LS Joe Cardona, Brenden Schooler and Marcellas Dial (gunners), Christian Elliss, Joe GIles-Harris, Raekwon McMillan, Jaylinn Hawkins, JaMycal Hasty, Jahlani Tavai, Joshuah Bledsoe

Extra points

After initial stretching, the Patriots opened with a training camp tradition: the fumble recovery slip n’ slide.
Two staffers ran hoses over a coned-off area behind one practice field, and coaches and players took turns diving for loose balls in the middle, trying to control it amid wet conditions.
Jerod Mayo dove on the last “fumble,” after assistants Dont’a Hightower and Scott Peters and players including Ja’Lynn Polk, Javon Baker, Keion White and others all went.