5 players to watch in the Patriots’ preseason finale
Everyone will be watching Mac Jones on Sunday, but the Patriots have a few other young players on offense and defense worth watching as well.
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Following Thursday’s joint practice with the New York Giants, the Patriots’ 2021 training camp essentially concluded. Practices will no longer be open to fans or the media, and the team’s burning questions will largely be answered behind closed doors.
That includes the biggest question of all, of course: will the Patriots stick with Cam Newton as their starting quarterback or turn things over to rookie Mac Jones?
While the answer to that particular query won’t come until at least next week, we’ll still get one last chance to judge for ourselves who belongs under center.
The Patriots still have a preseason game to play against the New York Giants. And though this year’s three-game format means there’s no telling how Bill Belichick will deploy his team, this contest typically tends to be the most like “real” football you get during the preseason. We’ll see if that remains the case Sunday.
But don’t forget: the quarterback situation is only one piece of the Patriots puzzle, and there are several other players to watch in New England’s final dress rehearsal for the regular season.
Mac Jones
It goes without saying that all eyes will be on the rookie’s performance whether he’s on this list or not.
But the saga surrounding Cam Newton’s absence and subsequent return to the starting lineup, combined with Jones’s own play, made this week even more consequential for the first-round quarterback than it might have been otherwise.
With Newton gone, Jones got the primary starting quarterback reps for three straight practices this week and improved with each day, culminating in a pristine performance on Wednesday against the Giants that had people wondering if he finally had the starting quarterback role firmly in his hands.
Then, the veteran came back Thursday and returned to the starting quarterback role as if his absence had never happened. More than that, Newton had a more efficient, cleaner-looking day in a smaller sample size than Jones, who had to overcome a very rough start to team 11-on-11s.
Still, Jones got a whole series with the starting offensive line and receivers Thursday, which rarely happened during training camp. That suggests Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels still intend to give him a long, hard look as the possible Week 1 starter as the preseason closes.
The first thing to look out for on Sunday will be how much time Jones gets with the starting offensive line and receivers.
The first-round pick has only gotten nine preseason snaps with the starters over the first two weeks. But the Patriots have seemingly taken the training wheels off the rookie this week, so it wouldn’t be surprising if they kept up that practice Sunday.
Extended reps with the starters would be significant regardless of how Jones plays. But that doesn’t mean his play won’t matter at all. Specifically, how will Jones respond to seeing more disguised coverages and unique looks he hasn’t seen in practice yet?
The young quarterback got a taste of that during an ugly three-play stretch to open his segment with the starting offense, which included two interceptable throws (one was picked by Logan Ryan) and a batted ball at the line of scrimmage.
Expect Joe Judge and the Giants to try to confuse the rookie once against this weekend. If he shows he can adapt and not duplicate his mistakes from the practice week, there might not be a whole lot left for him to prove headed into the season.
Rhamondre Stevenson
If you worried about Stevenson’s promising rookie outlook taking a hit because of his fumble in last week’s preseason game, fear not. The kid essentially got a promotion despite the mistake.
With Sony Michel now a member of the Los Angeles Rams, the path is now clear for the fourth-round rookie running back to claim a real role behind starter Damien Harris in this offense.
Not bad for a guy a lot of people projected to have a redshirt year in 2021.
Stevenson has swiftly quashed that talk in the preseason with a series of performances that have showed off speed, power and elusiveness each time he touches the football. Additionally, he has demonstrated good hands catching the ball out of the backfield and has made huge strides in pass protection as camp has gone on.
After not playing until the fourth quarter against Washington, Stevenson saw carries in the second quarter last Thursday against the Eagles with Mac Jones leading the second-string offense. Following the Michel trade, the rookie running back saw a bigger workload, getting early-down carries behind Harris with pass-catching backs like James White and J.J. Taylor rotating in on third downs.
Keep an eye on when Stevenson gets his first touch on Sunday night and how he does in pass protection. As long as he keeps churning out yards (and protects the football), the Patriots are going to find ways to get him on the field.
The way he moves with the ball in his hands at 240-ish pounds is no joke.
Josh Uche
What a day that man had on Thursday.
Uche repeatedly sped past, danced around and bullied through Giants offensive linemen throughout the second joint practice of the week, picking up what could have been three sacks.
This isn’t new, of course. He’s been doing this since OTAs and minicamp.
But doing it against the Giants’ first-team offensive line Thursday seemed to kick his confidence up to another level, and he wasn’t shy about letting everyone know when he had gotten to the quarterback.
For one thing, it wouldn’t be surprising if he racked up a real sack or two Sunday night. That alone would be worth watching.
Also, he’s still pushing to get more push-rushing reps behind Matthew Judon, who has been a force of nature so far this preseason, and Kyle Van Noy, who tortured the Giants plenty enough on his own Thursday.
Right now, Uche projects as a situational pass-rusher who will get perhaps 15-20 snaps a game to make a splash. If he keeps playing like this, would the Patriots get creative (putting him as an off-the-ball linebacker more often) just to get him on the field?
The Patriots have played him as an inside linebacker a few times during training camp and preseason already, and he’s shown he can drop into coverage effectively as well as pass rush.
He’s obviously best-suited as a dynamic edge rusher, but making himself available at multiple positions will only lead to more opportunities for him.
Jalen Mills
This training camp has served as a perfect use case for why the Patriots need guys like Mills in their secondary.
With Stephon Gilmore out, Mills has gotten most of the snaps taking over at the left corner spot opposite J.C. Jackson. Then, when starting slot corner Jonathan Jones has been out of the lineup, Mills is the Patriots’ first choice to bump inside and handle slot duties.
The former Eagles defensive back hasn’t been spectacular at either role, but he’s been serviceable. In fact, he’s looked more comfortable as a slot corner than he has outside, where his lack of elite speed sometimes can get him into trouble in coverage down the field. On the other hand, he has the size, short-area quickness and physicality to make things tough on quicker-than-fast slot guys.
With Jones suffering a lower leg injury that could keep him out of Sunday’s game, Mills should get another lengthy look at slot corner with Joejuan Williams available to play outside.
If he continues to play well in that spot, it could create an interesting decision going forward for the Patriots where Jones is concerned.
Jones, a former undrafted cornerback, has served as the Patriots’ starting slot cornerback since 2017 and figures to do so again this season.
But he also has a pretty high salary cap hit for both of the next two seasons, making it somewhat likely the team could look to save some money by moving on from him.
Might he be a surprise trade candidate a la Michel? Or will the Patriots perhaps wait until next season to let him go if they feel he’s too expensive to re-sign?
In either case, the first man up to replace him would almost assuredly be Mills, who’s likely to be a Patriot for at least the next two seasons. So it’s worth watching to see how well he can man that role in Jones’s absence.
Yodny Cajuste
It’s quite possible no one got screamed at by Josh McDaniels and the offensive coaching staff during OTAs and minicamp as much as Cajuste did.
At that point, it was honestly hard to see him making the final 53-man roster, which would’ve been an unfortunate story for a guy who’s been injured his first two NFL seasons.
What a long way he’s come since then.
Cajuste is coming on strong at the right time for the Patriots, looking like a very dependable backup tackle at either spot. He’s seen time at both left and right tackle during the first two preseason games and has proven especially adept at getting out on the edge as a run blocker.
His recent performance stands him a good chance of latching on as a reserve tackle alongside second-year tackle Justin Herron after a slow start in camp. His versatility to play in a swing role and raw athletic ability could make him the tackle version of interior line super-sub Ted Karras.
Another standout performance Sunday would make his candidacy for the 53-man roster hard to ignore.
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