The preseason is over and most questions have been answered or almost all resolved, although some important contract holdouts are still unclear.
Here are the top 10 takeaways from the final week of the preseason, including a complicated quarterback situation in New England:
New England Patriots
It can hardly be argued that Jacoby Brissett deserved the starting spot ahead of Drake Maye.
Maye, the third pick in the NFL Draft, is clearly the more talented option. And the preseason performance really wasn’t close. Brissett struggled a lot in the preseason, while Maye looked pretty good:
May: 21 of 32, 192 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 86.9 passer rating
Brissett: 5 for 14, 36 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT, 14.6 passer rating
Additionally, Brissett suffered a right shoulder injury on Sunday, although coach Jerod Mayo said Brissett would have continued playing if he could have. New England seems determined to have Brissett in the starting lineup.
“He’s our second-best quarterback on our roster right now,” Mayo said of Maye after Sunday night’s game, according to NBC Sports Boston.
Anyone can see that’s not true, but the Patriots are also probably wary of using Maye in a poor offensive environment with a subpar offensive line. But Maye’s playmaking abilities are evident and were on display again in the final preseason game.
Some preseason struggles due to limited playing time shouldn’t be entirely blamed on Brissett, a solid veteran who did a good job for most of the season for the 2022 Cleveland Browns. He’s not getting much help on this New England team. But for anyone paying attention, it’s hard to believe Maye is truly the second-best quarterback on the roster, even if it looks like Brissett will officially be named the starter this week. The bigger question might be how long the Patriots can keep Maye on the bench if Brissett’s regular season looks anything like his preseason.
It’s really hard to throw five interceptions in a preseason game. To be fair, it’s also hard to throw for 323 yards and run for another 90 yards in any NFL game.
Trey Lance had a wild season finale for the Cowboys. There were some good plays, but you can’t throw five interceptions in one game, even one that doesn’t count. Some of the interceptions were just awful. Also, Lance fumbled twice, although the Cowboys recovered both balls.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones insisted Lance will be on the team’s roster. Dallas traded a mid-round pick for Lance, who was the 49ers’ third overall draft pick in 2021, and they don’t want to waste that investment. But it’s hard to look past the mistakes and be optimistic about Lance’s future.
The Titans used starters on Sunday and that proved to be a good thing. Will Levis finished the preseason on a high note, completing 7 of 8 passes for 117 yards. There were a lot of quick passes to running backs and play-action fakes, which should become commonplace in the Titans offense this season.
Levis is in a new scheme with coach Brian Callahan and the extra reps in the preseason haven’t been bad for the second-year quarterback. He could have a good season on offense, which should play a lot more passes. He will have the opportunity to show he can be the Titans’ quarterback of the future.
Falcons coach Raheem Morris kept his word. Rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. did not play in the team’s final two preseason games. That decision was criticized, but considering Morris’ previous play, it shouldn’t be too surprising. Morris played with the Los Angeles Rams, who never play a big-name player in preseason. Sean McVay doesn’t even let his QB2 play. Penix may have grown with the extra preseason play, but philosophically, the Rams’ model is to protect all contributors from injury, and McVay views his backup quarterback as one of the team’s most important players. Morris obviously understands that, too. At least Penix will be healthy this season if he’s needed.
The Cleveland Browns
Jameis Winston performed well in the preseason, completing 10 of 14 passes for 93 yards and no interceptions. In Saturday’s finale, he completed 6 of 9 for 63 yards. This is important because we are dealing with another injury situation for Deshaun Watson.
Like last season, when his various injuries lingered for long periods, Watson was dealing with right shoulder soreness that kept him out of practice last week and ultimately led to the Browns not letting him play on Saturday. He’ll presumably play in Week 1, but we didn’t see him at all in the preseason following his season-ending shoulder surgery. Winston is at least a reasonable option, albeit one who has always had far too many interceptions in his NFL career. It’s getting harder and harder to trust that Watson will be available and productive for 17 games.
Anthony Richardson’s final preseason game had some highlights and mistakes, most notably an easy pick-6. Richardson said there was a miscommunication between him and tight end Kylen Granson on the play because they saw different things in coverage. Colts coach Shane Steichen wasn’t concerned.
“Look, guys are going to miss shots,” Steichen said, via the team’s website. “You know what I mean? I don’t care if you’re a second-year player or a 15-year veteran. Guys are going to miss shots. So I’m not worried about that.”
For all practical purposes, Richardson is still a rookie considering he only played four games last season before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury. He is more prone to making mistakes, but as he showed last season and in the season finale, he is also capable of some fantastic plays.
Rookie receiver Jermaine Burton hasn’t made it into the team’s top three receiver positions, but it will be difficult to keep him off the field.
Burton had another highlight in the final game of the preseason when he caught a 21-yard touchdown. He had four catches for 56 yards. It was a good preseason for the third-round rookie, with eight catches for 157 yards and two touchdowns. One reason he slipped in the draft, and perhaps a reason he didn’t make the Bengals’ top three, is his off-field issues and maturity, which he addressed on the Bengals Booth Podcast.
“I could have handled my preseason better,” Burton said, via SI.com. “I could have focused more on my details and the things I did wrong, but it’s how you handle it that matters. It’s what it means to you, and I feel like I need to do a better job of showing how much that means to me.”
The Buccaneers could have a strong running game this season. The starters played on Friday and Rachaad White looked very good. Rookie Bucky Irving could give the team more depth at running back that it didn’t have last season. He made a good impression in the preseason. Rookie center Graham Barton was also excellent in the preseason and if that continues, he could greatly strengthen the running game. In the passing game, rookie Jalen McMillan has a chance to contribute immediately and he made a fantastic 28-yard diving catch that set up a rushing touchdown for White. The reigning NFC South champions could have a strong offense again.
This preseason, we finally got to see Geno Smith, and the results were good. Smith, who did not play in the first two preseason games, had a drive on Saturday night, completing 4 of 5 passes for 62 yards and a touchdown to DK Metcalf.
It’s a brand new scheme that should be a little more open with coordinator Ryan Grubb. The Seahawks may still have issues with the offensive line, and that’s a big reason why Smith wasn’t quite as good in 2023 as he was in 2022. But if the line is competent, Smith and the Seahawks could have a pretty good season.
San Francisco 49ers
It’s a little odd why Brock Purdy played so much in the preseason. He played again in the finale on Saturday night and got hit a couple of times, including throwing himself at a defender to make a tackle after a blocked interception.
It’s not that the 49ers necessarily need to give Purdy more playing time. They know what they have by now. Fortunately, he hasn’t sustained an injury. For the 49ers, defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos has a knee injury that Kyle Shanahan said is hampering him week to week, and defensive end Leonard Floyd is day to day because of a knee injury.
