Demario Douglas, Tyquan Thornton on different trajectories at Patriots training camp

By Michael Hurley

August 3, 2023 / 11:48 AM / CBS Boston

BOSTON -- While much of the national and local attention on the Patriots' offense revolved around Mac Jones being able to bounce back after a nightmare coaching situation last year, the reality is that he was far from the only Patriots offensive player who stood to benefit from the arrival of Bill O'Brien.

Chief among them: Tyquan Thornton.

The speedy 6-foot-2 receiver caught 62 passes for 948 yards and 10 touchdowns as a senior at Baylor in 2021, leading to the Patriots drafting him in the second round at No. 50 overall in the 2022 draft. His production as a rookie certainly could be described as underwhelming (22 receptions, 247 yards, 2 TDs), but that wasn't without reason. Thornton suffered a fractured clavicle in the preseason, which kept him off the field until Week 5, and he was trying to adjust to the NFL in an offense being run by Matt Patricia, who himself was trying to adjust to coaching offense in the NFL.

Being fair about the situation, one could say that 2023 presents a clean slate and a fresh opportunity for the soon-to-be 23-year-old Thornton.

He still has that opportunity, but a week into training camp, the needle is pointing down.

Thornton wasn't overly involved in the offense to begin camp, as he didn't catch any passes from Mac Jones during team drills. Then on Wednesday, he spent the bulk of practice on the lower conditioning field, not participating in team drills while the offense had by far its best day of the summer. He went back to the lower field on Thursday, missing out on another full-pads session of work.

It's still early August, and the Patriots don't play a real game until Sept. 10., so Thornton still has time to secure a spot in the Patriots' wide receiver depth chart. Through a week-plus of camp, though, he's moved backward a bit.

Meanwhile, undersized rookie receiver Demario Douglas has not gone a day without standing out to those in attendance at training camp.

Most recently, Douglas was shining in two separate drills on Thursday.

In a live tackling drill, the 5-foot-8 receiver assuaged any concern that he might not be able to withstand the rigors of the NFL. Being impossible to catch is a solid strategy in that quest for Douglas.

We're currently watching some live 1-on-1 tackling drills -- a rarity in training camp these days -- and Demario Douglas is dazzling again. Quandre Mosely, Shaun Wade and Rodney Randle didn't come close to getting him down.

The Patriots are doing a rare live-tackling drill. Demario Douglas? Not easy to tackle.

Earlier, Douglas had burned past fellow speedster Marcus Jones during 1-on-1 drills.

Patriots rookie WR Demario Douglas got a ridiculous amount of separation against CB Marcus Jones in 1-on-1s.Douglas has another level of quickness/speed compared to the team's other receivers.

That was a repeat performance from a day before for Douglas.

Patriots rookie WR Demario Douglas just owned 1-on-1s. Beat Marcus Jones and shook Shaun Wade out of his cleats.

The hype has been real with the sixth-round pick out of Liberty, and it's been well-earned. Douglas hasn't just stood out on the practice field, either, as his work throughout the spring off the field clearly impressed his teammates and, more importantly, the coaching staff.

That off-field work led to the opportunity thus far in training camp, and to say Douglas is capitalizing on the moment would be a vast understatement.

How both situations develop in the long run will be determined in the coming weeks and months. Douglas, for his part, still has to make the roster. And Thornton still has plenty of time to establish a role in the offense. The high draft capital invested in him would suggest he'll be given some extra rope to do so, too.

For the time being, though, Thornton and Douglas are crossing paths on two very different trajectories at Patriots training camp.

First published on August 3, 2023 / 11:48 AM