8 things to watch in the Patriots preseason opener
The biggest things to watch when the Patriots take the field for their preseason opener on Thursday night against the Carolina Panthers.
Welcome to Peepers Peeled season! When the New England Patriots take the field for their preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers tonight at Gillette Stadium, there will be plenty to watch for.
A lot of that will be big-picture type of things. With new coaching staff and a roster with multiple draft picks at premium positions, there will be plenty of changes fans will be seeing for the first time. On Tuesday, Jerod Mayo told reporters everybody healthy enough to play in the game is expected to play. So, most of the roster should get an opportunity to get on the field.
Keeping that in mind, we’ll focus on seven bigger, more specific topics that stand out heading into the game. Here’s your Patriots preseason Week 1 ‘What to Watch For’…
Drake Maye’s night
Obviously, how Drake Maye performs will be the biggest storyline to come out of Thursday night – as it should be. But his usage alone can be telling as well.
Mayo told reporters on Tuesday that Jacoby Brissett is expected to start the game, meaning we won’t see Maye right away. Generally veteran starters don’t play deep into these games, so the wait shouldn’t be long, but who will Maye be playing with when he does get on the field? Will he get a chance to work with the ‘top’ offense that Brissett did? Or will those players come out of the game with Brissett, leaving Maye with the second unit? If he does play with the top unit, how many drives does he get?
If the Patriots give Maye a shot with the starting offense (or at least those who are playing in the game), it’s the best chance he’ll have to prove to the coaching staff he deserves more looks with that group. Last week Mayo said the plan was to get Maye reps with the starters eventually. A good performance in this setting from the rookie should only help expediate that timeline.
There’s also the matter of how long Maye stays in the game. Letting a rookie quarterback to through the exercise of going to halftime, meeting with the coaches about adjustments, then getting on the field and executing those adjustments has value. But, that’s only if they can properly protect him. That will be dictated more by the offensive line than anything else though, which brings us to our next topic…
The offensive line
Once again, the entire Patriots offensive line is a question. Most of the projected starters aren’t likely to play, with David Andrews, Chuks Okorafor, and Sidy Sow all recently missing practices at camp.
The biggest question is at left tackle. Vederian Lowe and rookie Caedan Wallace have gotten the majority of the reps in that spot in camp, with the veteran Lowe seemingly having the early edge. Can he prove in game action he’s a potential Week 1 starter? Or will the gap narrow to the point where the Patriots coaches feel Wallace needs a longer look next week?
Center is another important position to watch. Nick Leverett, who has primarily been a guard in his NFL career has been working on moving to center and seems to be the favorite to win the backup job. Atonio Mafi and UDFA Charles Turner III have also seen time at center this camp.
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Rookie wide receivers
So far, it’s been an encouraging training camp for Patriots rookie wide receivers Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker. Polk has been a steady, reliable presence as a chain-mover while Baker has flashed big-play ability during multiple practices. Can they do the same in the game?
How much both Polk and Baker play will be telling in terms of how the coaching staff views them. Last year, Pop Douglas saw limited time in the preseason despite being a rookie, and still went on to be the team’s most productive receiver. Pulling Polk and/or Baker early would be a sign the coaching staff is happy with where they’re at in their development, while leaving them in the game would show the staff wants to see more from the two rookies.
Moving off the rookies for a second, there’s also the question of if/how much Tyquan Thornton plays. Thornton had a strong start to camp but was limited the last two days with what he described as a “soft tissue” injury. Thornton needs to be on the field to make the team, especially with Kayshon Boutte starting to come on strong as a potential fifth receiver (if Kendrick Bourne isn’t ready to start the season).
Year 2 jump?
If the Patriots’ defense wants to be a unit that can carry the team to wins (especially without Christian Barmore) they’ll need to count on internal growth. The top two players to watch in that regard are 2023 first- and second-round picks Christian Gonzalez and Keion White.
Gonzalez comes into this game after an up-and-down camp. He hasn’t been alarmingly bad, but he’s allowed more catching than you’d like to see from a player who projects as a true lockdown cornerback. We’ll see if he can raise his game with the lights a little better on Thursday night.
Meanwhile, Keion White has been one of the Patriots’ best players in camp, after being named a standout by Jerod Mayo in the spring. White made big strides in the preseason as a rookie last year, and will look to do the same this time around starting against the Panthers.
Battle at the cornerback position
Leading up to camp we hyped the battle for the third boundary cornerback spot as one of the most competitive in camp, and so far it has lived up to that. Alex Austin hasn’t been quite as strong of a performer as he was in the spring, while Shaun Wade, Marco Wilson, Isaiah Bolden, and rookie Marcellas Dial have done a good job of playing catch up.
All four have gotten plenty of chances in recent practices as the coaching staff has rotated personnel. Can any separate themselves in the game?
Standout UDFAs
This isn’t the typical undrafted free agent (UDFA) year for the Patriots. There aren’t any clear-cut favorites to make the team, and the top UDFAs are at position where there is significant depth ahead of them.
If any UDFAs are going to make this year’s team, they’ll need to really impress in the preseason. The two that have done the most to help their case in camp so far are running back Terrell Jennings and safety Dell Pettus.
Jennings is a power running back who finishes carries with force. Pettus is a multi-positional safety who stood out in particular during the live tackling periods of camp earlier this week. Both come into this game with momentum and will have a chance to put together some quality film – either for the Patriots or other teams who will be looking on cutdown day.
Kickers
The kicker battle feels neck-and-neck heading into the first preseason game. Chad Ryland is 24-of-27 this summer while Joey Slye is 22-of-27 in team drills, but Slye has been better on the kicks that closer resemble live game action – highlighted by a 57-yarder he hit in a ‘run on’ drill. Ryland had a similar kick on Tuesday, but missed wide left from 53 yards.
It’s impossible to know just how many field goal attempts the Patriots will have in this game – last year they struggled to get field goal chances in the preseason. However many there are, each kick will hold significant weight as it feels like the kicker battle will be decided in the preseason games.
Coaching operation
This will be the first time Jerod Mayo and the rebuild coaching staff go through a game operation. Who is on the sideline, and which coaches are on headsets in the booth? Which coaches are meeting with what players? All of this may be fluid throughout the preseason, but it will be our first look at the operation in action.
