Quick Reaction to the New England Patriots Preseason Game 1

By Ryan Whitfield

Twitter: @RyanWhitfieldNE

This year promises to be the most interesting Patriots preseasons since 2001 when a 2nd year quarterback surpassed then 2nd stringer Damon Huard and started to apply pressure on the franchise quarterback Drew Bledsoe. I won’t mention the “gate” controversy again, but this is Jimmy Garoppolo’s time to showcase who he is in his third year. It’s just preseason and it was one game, but here’s my takeaways.

Jamie Collins

  • My god, my god. Jamie played about 20 snaps last night and racked up a TFL, and INT and a touchdown. If this is the shape he’s in in August, then I love his chances to be Defensive Player of the Year and am terrified of the contract it will take the Patriots to keep him at the end of the season.

Cyrus Jones

  • I grew up idolizing Ty Law, and love seeing Cyrus out there rocking the 24 jersey. He only played a little bit last night, but he was tough, physical and completed on every play. Him as the starting third corner this year, well I like that.

Defensive Tackles

  • This looks like an amazing position of strength for the Patriots this year. Rotating Malcolm Butler, Alan Branch, and Terrence Knighton in there this year. Good lord, good luck running on the patriots with those guys.

Defensive Ends

  • A bit of a mixed bag here. With the Jones trade and Ninkovich injury the starting two DE’s from last year are gone. However, Jabaal Sheard, looked even better than last year. Chris long looked explosive on some plays, other plays he looked a half step slow. They should be able to spot him this year so not a huge concern. I’m looking a group of three guys to emerge in their second year, Trey Flowers, Geno Grissom, and/or Rufus Johnson. Last night it was Trey Flowers who brought it. Even though it was late in the game against back ups, his strip sack, scoop and touchdown return against McCown was a special play.

Jimmy Garoppolo

  • Slow start, as the offense only amassed 25 first quarter yards. But after that Jimmy settled in and spread the ball between Bennet, White, Dobson, and Mitchell. He finished with a 91 passer rating. And he did this with a bad night from the O-line and without Gronkowski, Edelman, Amendola, and Hogan. I’ll take that.

Malcolm Mitchell

  • God I love this kid. It made his sickening elbow injury even harder to watch. But before that he caught 4 balls for 50+ yards. He runs crisp routes, he has decent speed and size for the group he’s a part of, and most importantly is smart and picking up the Patriots complex playbook. Hopefully a 4 week recovery, and we’ll see him soon.

Martellus Bennett

  • Huge, runs great routes and hands looked good out there. If he’s the number two tight end, wow.

Running Backs

  • I loved Lagerette Blount. I love him for his 2014 contributions and that he got a ring. I loved seeing him out there in the opening huddle last night being a leader. But my god, he is done. Time to move on. Let me see what Donald Brown has. Tyler Gaffney looked good last night. James White looked to take another step this year judging on last night, and Deion Lewis is working his way back. But Blount’s lost power, and watching him dance behind the line of scrimmage, made me sick last night. Thanks for the contributions, but see you later.

Offensive Line

  • They need work. Missed assignments, bad technique and losing at the point of attack. I like David Andrews but you need Brian Stork’s nastiness in the middle. Thuney looked great as well as Ted Karras. But, you need to spot the two rookies and let Shaq Mason start on the other side. There was some notable rust on Nate Solder who went on IR last year shortly after week 4. And they need Vollmer back because Marcus Cannon is so awful you almost pity the guy. With OL coach Scharnachia back, all they need to do is pick a 5 man lineup and get some unity and they should be all set.

Overall, it was a good night for New England, but I’m looking for some strong progress next Thursday night.

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