DETROIT — If you watched Patriots cornerbacks Keion Crossen and Duke Dawson in New England’s preseason opener Thursday, you’d have a pretty good idea of which player was selected in the second round and which one was a seventh-rounder. And you’d be wrong.
Crossen, a 2018 seventh-round pick, significantly outplayed Dawson, a second-rounder last year, as they battle for what could be just one roster spot. Crossen, an outside cornerback and special-teamer, and Dawson, a slot cornerback, don’t play the same role. But the Patriots can only keep so many cornerbacks on their roster, and Stephon Gilmore, Jason McCourty, Jonathan Jones, Joejuan Williams and JC Jackson are locks. The Patriots typically wouldn’t even keep a sixth cornerback, so Crossen and Dawson really need to stand out.
Crossen did just that Thursday night. And so did Dawson, but for all the wrong reasons. All stats courtesy of Pro Football Focus.
PASS COVERAGE
CB Duke Dawson: 2-3, 53 yards
CB Joejuan Williams: 2-3, 26 yards
S Obi Melifonwu: 1-1, 16 yards
LB Christian Sam: 1-1, 4 yards
S Terrence Brooks: 1-2, 3 yards
CB Keion Crossen: 0-3, PBU
CB JC Jackson: 0-2, PBU
S Malik Gant: 0-1
LB Elandon Roberts: 0-1
LB John Simon: INT
— Dawson turned in one of the few negative performances for the Patriots. He was flagged for defensive holding and 12 men on the field and gave up two big plays.
— Crossen and Jackson seem to have picked up where they left off last season. Crossen actually was credited with two pass breakups by the NFL. He’d be ahead of Dawson on our cornerback depth chart, and we’re penciling him onto the roster. Dawson was behind Crossen on last season’s depth chart, as well. Crossen played 11 regular-season and three playoff games. Dawson never saw the field after starting the season on injured reserve.
— Brooks closed well on a 3-yard catch he allowed. He’s looked decent at safety all summer, and it makes us wonder why he hasn’t played more defense in his special-teams heavy career.
PASS RUSH
LB Chase Winovich: two sacks, two hurries
LB Derek Rivers: two sacks
LB Shilique Calhoun: sack, hurry
DT Byron Cowart: sack, hurry
LB Trent Harris: two hurries
DT David Parry: two hurries
DT Danny Shelton: sack
LB Jamie Collins: sack
LB Ja’Whaun Bentley: sack
LB Terez Hall: sack
DE Deatrich Wise: hurry
DT Nick Thurman: hurry
— Half of the Patriots’ total pressures were sacks. They finished all night.
— Four of the Patriots’ 10 total sacks came against Lions offensive tackle Tyrell Crosby, who had a night to forget. He also committed a false start.
— Winovich was close to getting a third sack, but Hall, another rookie, came up with it. Winovich was a standout in the second half.
RUN DEFENSE
LB Chase Winovich: two run stops
CB Joejuan Williams: two run stops
DT Byron Cowart: run stop
DE Keionta Davis: run stop
LB John Simon: run stop
LB Derek Rivers: run stop
LB Terez Hall: run stop
LB Brandon King: run stop
S A.J. Howard: run stop
— It’s a nice sign that Winovich, a third-round pick, and Williams, a second-round pick, both contributed in the run game as rookies in their first preseason game.
— It’s worth noting King played 10 defensive snaps. He had never taken a defensive snap in a preseason game, and he entered the league in 2015.
PASS BLOCKING
G/C James Ferentz: QB hit, QB hurry
T/G Cedrick Lang: QB hit, QB hurry
T/G Tyree St. Louis: QB hurry
T/G Martez Ivey: QB hurry
— Offensive linemen Hjalte Froholdt, Dan Skipper, Ted Karras and Tyler Gauthier, running backs Brandon Bolden and Nick Brossette, tight end Ryan Izzo and fullbacks Jakob Johnson and Andrew Beck saw pass-block snaps but didn’t allow a pressure.
— Froholdt and Ferentz played all 84 offensive snaps.
— Skipper had a nice first showing as the Patriots’ starting left tackle. We still expect Isaiah Wynn, who didn’t play, to earn that role, but it was nice to see Skipper settle in well in Week 1.
PASSING ACCURACY
Brian Hoyer: 100 percent accuracy rate.
Jarrett Stidham: 77.3 percent accuracy rate.
— Hoyer had one pass dropped and one batted. Otherwise, he went 12-of-12.
— Stidham had three passes dropped, he threw one away, and he was hit while throwing once. Otherwise, he went 14-of-19.
— Hoyer went 2-of-2 on deep balls. Stidham was 1-of-5 on deep passes, but three of the incompletions were drops.
— Both quarterbacks impressed. Stidham’s performance was more notable since it was his first NFL action.
RECEIVING
WR Maurice Harris: two drops
WR Jakobi Meyers: drop
TE Ryan Izzo: drop
— We don’t agree with PFF’s assessment on Harris’ drops. He appeared to be interfered with on both plays. Cornerback Amani Oruwariye was credited with a pass breakup on the second.
— Tight end Matt LaCosse left the game with an injury, but he moved well catching two passes earlier in the game.
— Wideout N’Keal Harry also left the game early with an injury, but he made two acrobatic catches that showed he can post up like a power forward over most defensive backs.
RUSHING ATTACK
Brandon Bolden: three forced missed tackles
Nick Brossette: three forced missed tackles
— Brossette had a rushing touchdown, running behind fullback Andrew Beck.
— It was notable to see Damien Harris sit out. Is he dealing with an injury, or did the Patriots want to get a look at Bolden and Brossette first?
— The Patriots struggled to move the ball on the ground consistently. They averaged just 3.3 yards per carry. We’d set the over/under on 2019 carries for Bolden at Brossette at 1.5, however. Sony Michel, James White, Rex Burkhead and Harris will be the Patriots’ top running backs, and none of them played.
For more grades, advanced statistics and more at Pro Football Focus, go to ProFootballFocus.com.
