With injuries hitting the Patriots safety group in training camp, veteran free agent addition Jaylinn Hawkins has found opportunity knocking at the team's most involved position group over recent days. Hawkins has made the most of his chances, showing up with a tipped pass interception during Saturday's padded practice session, while being active around the line of scrimmage and in coverage.
His fiery energy has fit in well with the safety group which is one of the core pieces of the defensive scheme.
"That's my game. It felt good, it always feels good to get your hands on the ball," said Hawkins following Saturday's session of the interception. "It's something that I pride myself on and something that we harp on in the room. It's big for the team to get takeaways so whenever we can get one, however we can, it's always good for the team."
A fourth-round pick of the Falcons in 2020, Hawkins emerged from a special teams player as a rookie to a two-way safety who played over 1,000 snaps in his third season, 2022. 587 of those snaps came as a free safety, but he also spent plenty of time in box with 233 snaps there. His role was reduced in 2023 after the arrival of highly-sought-after safety Jessie Bates and eventually was released by the Falcons after six games. He was picked up by the Chargers and played 10 games with them, peaking with 52 snaps in a Week 16 loss to the Bills.
Upon taking a free agency visit to New England this offseason, Hawkins instantly got a good feeling and decided to join the Patriots. So far through training camp, it's looking like a valuable signing that could pay off for a veteran defense that didn't have a lot of holes to fill.
"He's going to be a big piece of the group and honestly, as you go throughout the preseason, he'll play a lot to see what he really has to offer," said head coach Jerod Mayo before practice.
Jabrill Peppers has missed some time over the last week, while second-year player Marte Mapu has been simply a practice observer over the last week and Josh Bledsoe has recently joined the list of absences as well. Hawkins' reps have increased as a result and he has strung together two active days. During Friday's practice, Hawkins got things started during the first 11-on-11 period with a run stuff of Rhamondre Stevenson, then again came charging into the line to counter an inside zone handoff.
Whether he's in the box or on the back end, Hawkins is looking like he fits in more and more each day. Playing with the experienced veterans Peppers and Dugger has helped the veteran free agent assimilate into the system and develop the freedom to play within its rules.
"Dug and Pep are cool man, just to gain chemistry with them, learning from them because they've been in the system for a while," said Hawkins. "They're teaching me nuances and things, or a little twist to some things. We can collaborate and play faster so it's cool."
For a defense that has long prided itself on a stable of versatile safeties, Hawkins appears to fit the mold of the successful players who have preceded him.
"I'm just having fun, playing my game, one play at a time" Hawkins told Patriots.com. "Trying to get better with the team, you know, we're still in training camp, it's just little stuff man at this time where we get it all locked in."
Deuce's Defensive Nickel Package
Here are five quick-hit thoughts on the Patriots defense through nine practices.
- Challenge Accepted: Jerod Mayo challenged the defense before Saturday's practice after two solid days from the offense in team periods. "The offense the last couple of days, they've done well whether it's running the ball, the play action game, pushing the ball down the field, I think those guys are doing a good job," said the head coach. The defense responded, denying the volume of successful passing plays that littered the previous two sessions. As mentioned above, Hawkins grabbed a tipped ball interception while Alex Austin picked off a pass of his own. Now, we can officially call this a back-and-forth camp and that's the way it's supposed to be. We've become accustomed to defense dominating on the practice fields over the past couple seasons but it's probably a better thing for the team that they're facing an offense that can punch back.
- 1-on-1 Winners: It's hard to understate the impact of losing Christian Barmore and his absence was magnified in recent 1-on-1 blocking drills where the offensive line has dominated the reps. Josh Uche got a clean win on Friday and Daniel Ekuale had one of his own but otherwise, it's been tough to get around the Patriots blockers, especially Sidy Sow and Michael Onwenu. It was something Barmore excelled at and what made him such a valuable player. During team periods the Patriots defense has been able to scheme up pressure and take advantage of matchups at times, but it's a valid to wonder if they have enough pass rushers who can win by themselves. If they stay healthy, especially Judon, it might not matter a lot but the pass rush question is one thing that could linger over the defense.
- Marcus Jones and the Slot: Marcus Jones was having a strong training camp before missing the last two padded practices with an undisclosed injury. His absence further highlighted the razor-thin depth at cornerback, especially in the slot. Isaiah Bolden played in the slot a bit during the spring but coach Mayo said he is still viewed as more of an outside corner. Jonathan Jones is fully capable of sliding inside, or playing safety for that matter, so his presence helps offset any slot concerns, but based on the early days of camp, the Patriots defense will be at its best when Marcus Jones is available.
- CB3: Similarly, just about every cornerback behind Christian Gonzalez and Jonathan Jones has gotten reps with the top defensive unit. Azizi Hearn has been the latest to get a look and it was his pass deflection that helped set up Hawkins' interception, while rookie Marcellas Dial has started to show up lately. Add in Austin's interception on Saturday, Marco Wilson's recovered fumble from earlier this week and Shaun Wade's strong pass defense against Javon Baker that capped off one of the sessions and each of the candidates is showing up at different times. The competition for corner depth remains red hot.
- Special Teams Avenue: Perhaps the easiest way to figure out the defensive roster competitions is on special teams, where there will be a number of roster spots available. Again, those in the cornerback and linebacker rooms have been heavily involved during the team's periods. Without Chris Board or Cody Davis, among other core special teamers, there continue to be opportunities for unsung players like Joe Giles-Harris, Christian Elliss, and Oshane Ximines along with the depth corners mentioned above.
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