LR: Drake Maye and Jerod Mayo at Patriots training camp (USA Today Images)
The key things to watch for as the Patriots face the Carolina Panthers in their season opener on Thursday night.
Welcome to Peepers Peeled season! There’s a lot to watch when the New England Patriots take on the Carolina Panthers in their season opener tonight at Gillette Stadium.
Much of this will be about the bigger picture. With a new coaching staff and a roster featuring several premium draft picks, there will be many changes that fans will see for the first time. On Tuesday Jerod Mayo told reporters that anyone healthy enough to play is expected to play, so most players should get a chance to get on the field.
With that in mind, we’ll focus on seven bigger, more specific topics that stand out ahead of the game. Here’s your “What to Watch” for Patriots preseason Week 1…
Drake Mayes Night
Obviously, how Drake May Performances will be the biggest headline on Thursday night – and that’s a good thing. But his effort alone can also be telling.
mayonnaise told reporters on Tuesday that Jacoby Brissett is expected to start the game, meaning we won’t see Maye right away. Typically, veteran starters don’t play long in 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 had? Or will those players go out of the game with Brissett, leaving Maye with the second unit? If he plays with the top unit, how many drives will he get?
If the Patriots give Maye a chance in the starting lineup (or at least with those in play), that’s the best chance he has to prove to the coaching staff that he deserves more attention in this group. Last week, Mayo said the plan is to have Maye play in the starting lineup at some point. A good performance from the rookie in this environment should only help speed up that timeline.
There’s also the question of how long Maye stays in the game. There’s value in letting a rookie quarterback go into halftime all the time, meet with the coaches about adjustments, and then go on the field and make those adjustments. But that’s only true if they can properly protect him. That will be determined more by the offensive line than anything else, though, which brings us to our next topic…
The Offensive Line
Once again, the Patriots’ entire offensive line is questionable. Most of the planned starters are unlikely to play, with David Andrews, Chuks OkoraforAnd Sidy Sow all have been missing from training at camp recently.
The biggest question concerns the left tackle. Vederian Lowe and rookie Caedan Wallace have made the most appearances at that position in training camp, with the experienced Lowe seemingly having the edge early on. Can he prove in-game that he’s a potential starter in Week 1? Or will the gap narrow enough that Patriots coaches feel Wallace should be given a closer look next week?
Another important position to keep an eye on is the center. Nick Leverettwho played mainly as a guard at the center position in his NFL career, is working on moving to the center position and seems to be the favorite for the job as a backup player. Atonio Mafi and UDFA Charles Turner III also spent time in the center of this camp.
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Rookie wide receiver
So far, it has been an encouraging training camp for the Patriots’ rookie wide receivers Ja’Lynn Polk And Javon Baker. Polk has been a consistent, reliable presence as a lineman, while Baker has shown his ability to make big plays in multiple practices. Can they do the same in the game?
How much Polk and Baker play will determine how the coaching staff evaluates them. Last year Paul Douglas Despite being a rookie, he played little time in the preseason and still became the team’s most productive receiver. Taking Polk and/or Baker out of the game early would be a sign that the coaching staff is happy with their development, while keeping them in the game would show that the staff wants to see more from the two rookies.
If we ignore the newcomers, the question also arises whether and how much Tyquan Thornton Thornton had a strong start to training camp, but was limited the last two days by what he described as a “soft tissue injury.” Thornton needs to be on the field to make the team, especially with Kayshon Boutte begins to emerge as a potential fifth receiver (if Kendrick Bourne is not ready to start the season).
Jump in the second year?
If the Patriots defense wants to be a unit that can lead the team to victories (especially without Christian Barmore) they need to focus on internal growth. The two top players to keep an eye on in this regard are the 2023 first and second round picks Christian Gonzalez And Keion White.
Gonzalez comes into this game after an up-and-down training camp. He hasn’t been alarmingly bad, but he has allowed more catches than you’d expect from a player considered a true lockdown cornerback. We’ll see if he can improve his game a bit under the lights on Thursday night.
In the meantime, Keion White was one of the Patriots’ best players in training camp after being called a standout by Jerod Mayo in the spring. White made great strides as a rookie in the preseason last year and will look to repeat that this time when starting against the Panthers.
Battle for the cornerback position
Leading up to camp, we touted the battle for the third boundary cornerback spot as one of the toughest in camp, and so far it has lived up to that claim. Alex Austin was not quite as strong as in spring, while Shaun Wade, Marco Wilson, Isaiah Boldenand rookie Marcellas dial have done a good job of catching up.
All four have had plenty of chances in recent training sessions as the coaching staff has rotated personnel. Can any of them pull ahead in the game?
Outstanding UDFAs
This is not a typical year for the Patriots, where no free agents (UDFAs) are drafted. There are no clear favorites for the team, and the best UDFAs are in positions where they have much more potential.
If UDFAs want to make the team this year, they have to really impress in the preseason. The two who have done the most for their position so far in camp are running back Terrell Jennings and security Dell Pettus.
Jennings is a power running back who finishes runs with vigor. Pettus is a multi-position safety who particularly stood out during the live tackling phases of training camp earlier this week. Both are coming into this game with momentum and will have a chance to make some quality shots – either for the Patriots or other teams looking on cutdown day.
Kickers
Before the first warm-up game, the football duel is neck and neck. Chad Ryland is 24 out of 27 this summer, while Joey Slye is 22 of 27 in team drills, but Slye was better on the kicks closest to live game action — a highlight was a 57-yard kick he made during a “run-on” drill. Ryland had a similar kick on Tuesday but missed wide left from 53 yards.
It’s impossible to predict how many field goal attempts the Patriots will have in this game — last year they struggled to get field goal opportunities in the preseason. However many there are, each kick will carry significant weight because it feels like the battle for the kicker will be decided in preseason games.
Coaching operation
This is the first time Jerod Mayo and the newly formed coaching staff will go through a game operation. Who will be on the sidelines and which coaches will be wearing headsets in the locker room? Which coaches will be meeting with which players? All of this is subject to change throughout the preseason, but it will be our first look at the operation in action.
Alex Barth is a digital content producer and host at 98.5 The Sports Hub. Barth grew up in the Boston area and began covering the New England Patriots, Boston Celtics and Boston Red Sox in 2017 before joining the Hub in 2020. Today, he covers all things Boston sports for 985TheSportsHub.com and also makes live on-air appearances. Alex writes about all New England sports as well as college football. You can follow him on all social media platforms at @RealAlexBarth.
