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FOXBOROUGH — Notes and observations from the Patriots’ 24-21 win over the Eagles Saturday night in their second preseason game . . . 1. The offensive line, which lost two backups in the preseason opener, took another hit in the first quarter when Marcus Bryant went down with an ankle injury. On the fifth play of New England’s opening drive, a 1-yard rush by running back Lan Larison, Bryant went down and remained on the ground. Coach Mike Vrabel and the athletic trainers came out to check on him, before Bryant slowly limped off the field with assistance. Rookie Dametrious Crownover took his place. The team quickly ruled Bryant out for the rest of the game. A significant injury to Bryant would be a disappointing development for the 2025 seventh-round pick, who had put together a strong training camp. He and rookie Caleb Lomu appeared to be competing for the role of top swing tackle. Losing Bryant, in addition to Ben Brown and Andrew Rupcich, is a tough loss for the already shaky offensive line depth. At tackle, the Patriots now have two rookies (Lomu and Crownover) as their top backups. On the interior, they have veteran Greg Van Roten, signed Tuesday, and an assortment of young and inexperienced options (Mehki Butler, Darrian Dalcourt, James Hudson III, Joe Michalski, JonDarius Morgan, and Jacob Rizy). The starting lineup on Saturday was Lomu at left tackle, Butler at left guard, Rizy at center, Hudson at right guard, and Bryant at right tackle. On New England’s first possession, Hudson committed two holding penalties. Lomu, who played almost the entire game, had his ups and downs, as he has all summer. 2. Quarterback Drake Maye and the projected starters sat for a second straight game, leaving the preseason finale as the last chance for them to experience live action before Week 1. Last year, Maye and starters played 15 snaps across two drives in the second preseason game after two joint practices in Minnesota. Vrabel never explicitly shared his plans for the preseason this year, but acknowledged the team’s lack of depth has influenced his decision. He left the door open for the starters to play next Thursday in Cleveland. Teams across the league have adopted varying approaches. Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer, for example, announced in early August that the vast majority of starters would not play a snap during the preseason. Packers coach Matt LaFleur, meanwhile, spoke recently about the importance of having starters get those reps. “I absolutely think there’s a ton of value in the preseason games and getting those guys out there to kind of work out some of the kinks,” LaFleur said. “My experience here is that when we’ve played in the preseason, we’ve been better earlier in the season. You open up with a division opponent on the road, that’s a tough task in itself. We’ve got to keep that in mind. Plus, there’s a lot of data out there that will tell you that if your guys get X amount of snaps in the preseason, I think it’s over three times less likely they get injured in the regular season.” Asked earlier in the week if he would like to play in the preseason, Maye deferred to the staff. “Whatever they think, I’m here for them and here for this team,” he said. 3. Players who were not spotted in uniform at Gillette Stadium included safeties Kevin Byard and Craig Woodson, cornerbacks Channing Canada and Christian Gonzalez, fullback Reggie Gilliam, running back TreVeyon Henderson, edge rusher Harold Landry (physically unable to perform list), rookie tight end Eli Raridon, and special teamer Brenden Schooler (non-football injury list). Of the group, Raridon was the most surprising absence. 4. Executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf made an appearance during the WBZ broadcast, reiterating the organization’s desire to retain Gonzalez amid ongoing negotiations for a potential contract extension. “Each side is trying to do what’s right for them,” Wolf said. “Christian’s a tremendous player that we’ve been on record multiple times saying we want him to be here. That hasn’t changed. We’re going to continue working with his representation to try to get something done.” 5. No snaps for wide receivers Kayshon Boutte and Mack Hollins, after Boutte played 16 and Hollins 13 in the preseason opener. 6. Coming off a game in which he missed three field goals, kicker Andy Borregales bounced back by making his first and only attempt (41 yards). He also made all three of his extra points. 7. Starting with New England’s fourth drive, third-string quarterback Behren Morton took over for Bryce Baringer at punter. Even when Morton entered the game as the starting quarterback to open the second half, he continued as the punter. Morton, who played kicker and punter in addition to quarterback in high school, booted the ball three times for an average of 44.3 yards per punt. (Last season, Baringer ranked 19th in the NFL at 47.4.) It was a productive night for Morton, who also completed 13 of his 17 pass attempts (76.5 percent) for 129 yards and the game-winning touchdown. 8. For the second straight preseason game, backup quarterback Tommy DeVito and wide receiver Kyle Williams connected for a touchdown. On a first and 10 from New England’s 31-yard line, with under three minutes to go in the second quarter, Williams hauled in a deep pass around Philadelphia’s 35-yard line and outran cornerback Ambry Thomas to the end zone. Prior to the impressive score, Williams had caught just one of his five targets from DeVito. It’s no secret that Williams boasts tremendous speed, and big-play ability as a result, but it remains to be seen if he can develop a consistent role within the offense. Nicole Yang can be reached at nicole.yang@globe.com. Follow her on X @nicolecyang.