news-engine

The New England Patriots played their second preseason game of the summer on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium, and, once again, decided not to use their starters. Naturally, with the backups in the game, the roster competition was the main event against the Philadelphia Eagles. 10 things we learned from Patriots vs. Eagles preseason game What we learned from the Patriots’ preseason win over the Eagles. Let’s find out what we learned about them, and the general state of the roster, during the Patriots’ 24-21 victory. Behren Morton does it all Rookie Behren Morton had a solid night at quarterback for the Patriots and led the team to two touchdown drives to turn a 14-10 halftime deficit into a 24-21 victory. The first of those drives started late in the third quarter, and the second one proved to be the game-winning rally late in the fourth. Morton himself was poised, and looked confident throwing the ball. If that had been his entire night, it would have been a really good one. Of course, it wasn’t, because he also had three punts with at average 44.3 yards per kick. Bryce Baringer apparently wasn’t feeling great after his second punt in the second period, so they sent Morton in to punt instead, something he hadn’t done since he was in high school (Baringer, meanwhile, remained as the team’s holder). It makes sense for the Patriots to only keep two quarterbacks with the roster looking the way it does, but I could see a world where they decide to keep Morton as their emergency QB3. He looked decent last week, and looked solid this week, even though he didn’t get a single joint practice rep against the Colts or Eagles. I therefore still think it’s a long shot for him to be on the roster on cut down day. A tough receiver decision awaits Mike Vrabel has made it pretty clear that Kyle Williams is going to be a big part of their plans this year. He showed why late in the first half, when he caught a 69-yard touchdown pass from Tommy DeVito. Simply put, if you run man press on him without safety help over the top, he’s a good candidate to take any pass to the house. Having a guy with his releases who possesses natural speed and ball tracking abilities is invaluable to an offense. Sure, he only does one thing, but he does it very well and there’s now enough talent on the roster that he can do that one thing because of the guys ahead of him. Efton Chism, meanwhile, was a demon underneath and caught all four of his targets for 45 yards. He looked slippery with the ball in his hands, and that’s the exact type of thing that Patriots fans hope he can bring to the roster. He might not be a Pro Bowl-caliber player, but he’s proven himself to be a legitimate NFL talent. The Patriots are going to have to make tough decisions on roster cutdown day with the receiver position. I’m starting to think that they end up keeping all seven of their wide receiver and maybe only keep two tight ends, knowing that C.J. Dippre or Tanner Arkin are likely to clear waivers and end up on the practice squad as potential elevation candidates on game day. Nick DeGennaro bursts onto the scene Speaking of looking slippery with the ball in his hands, Nick DeGennaro, the rookie from James Madison, had a great night on Saturday. He caught four passes for 61 yards, and had a 37-yard touchdown to win the game, when he got behind former Patriot Isaiah Bolden for the score. With the receiver room as packed as it is, I can’t imagine he makes the active roster, but he might have secured himself a spot on the practice squad with his performance on Saturday. His ability to work out of the slot and also play on the outside was impressive, and that’s something the team might want to keep around. Cameron Dorner, who finished with two catches and also drew two flags when he beat his guy fairly decisively, also looks like a practice squad option with the way he’s performed all camp. No running room for the offense The Patriots had a tough time running the football on Saturday night. If you take away their longest runs of 20 and 10 yard, respectively, Jam Miller had 10 carries for 16 yards and Lan Larison had eight for 23. I thought they both ran hard but there was nowhere to go most of the night. The offensive line consisted exclusively of backups, yes, but the Eagles didn’t have any starters out there either, so you’d like to think you could have some level of success. That was not the case, unfortunately. RB3 battle is heating up Running back is one of the most intriguing positions on the roster right now because there are four guys vying for what appears to be a single roster spot, and all of them have looked good at times. On Saturday night, Lan Larison looked the best of the bunch. He ran hard between the tackles, including on a 4th-and-1 where he was hit in the backfield but kept the legs churning to bounce off a would-be tackler and move forward for the conversion. Larison looked good catching the ball out of the backfield as well, with his best plays a 28-yard screen pass in the first quarter that saw him dance down the sideline and a really nice pickup on 3rd-and-6 where he had to fight for the last few yards. Jam Miller ran hard as well, even though there wasn’t much available to him. He’s not super explosive, but he has good vision, and gets what is given to him. He’s similar to Terrell Jennings, who looked like the frontrunner for the RB3 spot before he was placed on injured reserve and subsequently released off of it. Hassan Haskins didn’t receive nearly the amount of snaps that the first two got, while JaMichael Hasty looked good catching the ball and pass-protecting, but a fumble in the second half might prevent him from making the roster. Hasty has been on and off the team the last few years, so even if he doesn’t make the 53-man roster or even the practice squad, the Patriots have shown a willingness to bring him back before to help in a pinch. Overall, it feels like Larison might have taken a small lead on Saturday night. We will see how it plays out, but his willingness and ability to run between the tackles and contribute in the passing game could have him on the inside track right now. James Hudson had a bad night Tackle-turned guard James Hudson did not have his best day at the office on Saturday. The veteran offseason signing had multiple holding penalties, and was beat on multiple occasions both in the run and the pass game. The Patriots brought in Greg Van Roten, who seems to be in a good position to make the roster, but the depth on the inside still isn’t great. Hudson might have flexibility to play both tackle and guard, but he doesn’t do either particularly well, so you have to assume that he is not going to make the roster. Chad Muma is not the answer at linebacker The Patriots have been in need of quality linebacker depth for multiple years, which prompted them to bring in a good amount of veteran players to try to address the issue. Chad Muma was one of those players; he arrived in New England as a practice squad pickup from the Colts last December. While he offers an intriguing athletic skillset and vast special teams experience, he hasn’t looked impressive in training camp so far. On Saturday, meanwhile, he had a forgettable night and found himself out-positioned on multiple plays. He then left the game in the late fourth quarter with an injury. Not great. Kindle Vildor makes a bid for a roster spot The Patriots need cornerback depth, and it appears that Kindle Vildor and Karon Prunty are right in the mix for the backup spots. Prunty had a consistent game against the Eagles; He wasn’t flashy, but did a decent job in coverage and in the run game. Vildor, on the other hand, had one of the best drives you will see a corner have. The offseason signing beat the receiver to the spot on an in-cut and would have had an interception if not for a Gabe Jacas roughing the passer penalty. On the very next play, he did the same thing, but was unable to hold onto the pass despite a diving effort. Then, on third down, he timed his break perfectly and knocked the ball out of the receiver’s hands to force a punt. Vildor has looked mostly solid in camp, and should be in line for a roster spot. Time to worry about Gonzo? I have been saying for five months that I wasn’t going to start worrying about the Christian Gonzalez contract situation until a week after Devon Witherspoon signed his deal. Well, here we are, and it seems that the two sides are not particularly close to get a deal done just yet. The Patriots have a chance to be an elite team this year, and, specifically, an elite defense. That plan, however, doesn’t work without Christian Gonzalez being fully bought in. Whatever the holdup may be, the priority needs to be to get this deal done in 2026, so that the Patriots can then focus on getting Drake Maye’s deal done next year. There is still time to do it, and maybe they will get it done in the almost two weeks between the preseason finale and the season opener in Seattle, but I need to be consistent and tell you that it might be time to starting to get worried. It’s not time for panic mode yet, but we might be getting there if this goes on for too much longer. I also have to assume that the Patriots wouldn’t entertain the idea of trading him instead of paying him, similar to the Cowboys moving on from Micah Parsons. Because the Patriots are simply better-run than the Cowboys — right? Starters in the spotlight this week The Patriots will close out their preseason with a short week and a Thursday night game in Cleveland. As noted above, this will give them almost two full weeks off before their regular season opener in Seattle. Yes, it’s the final preseason game, but I wonder if we will see Drake Maye and some of the other starters for a series or two, just to get them ramped up for the regular season. Maybe they Patriots think their three joint practices will take the place of their three preseason games, but I would still like to see Maye and company get some time to gel on the field in an actual game. It might not be worth risking injury, but I would consider it, at least for a series or two — a calculation Mike Vrabel also is currently working out. It’s also the last time for guys to prove that they belong on the roster, or at least on the practice squad, so you know the team will be working its tais off to try to make plays, which could lead to some exciting moments. Pats Pulpit Who gets your game ball from Patriots vs. Eagles? If you had to pick one player, who would be your choice from New England's 24-21 win over with Eagles on Saturday? Please participate in our poll and share your thoughts with the community below.