The New England Patriots held their final open practice of the 2021 season Thursday. Every practice from now through January will be held behind closed doors, away from the invading eyes of reporters and fans.
Having watched all 19 Patriots practices since the start of training camp, including the four joint sessions with the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants, I wanted to kick off this week’s mailbag with a rundown of my top five summer standouts:
WR Jakobi Meyers: The Patriots’ best pass-catcher in camp, and it wasn’t particularly close. Meyers is New England’s WR1, despite the offseason additions of Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne.
OLB Matt Judon: Judon is going to cause major problems for opposing offenses this season. He’s exactly the type of versatile, play-making edge defender Bill Belichick covets, and he’s been borderline unstoppable in his two preseason appearances.
LB Josh Uche: Injuries have sidelined Uche at times, so he’ll need to prove he can stay healthy. But if he can, he has “Year 2 breakout” written all over him. He ate Daniel Jones’ lunch in the Patriots’ final open practice, sacking the Giants quarterback at least three times.
S Adrian Phillips: The Patriots added two high-priced tight ends in Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith, and Phillips spent most of the summer locking them both down. The savvy veteran will play a key role in New England’s secondary this season after filling in as a de facto inside linebacker in 2020.
QB Mac Jones: The first-round draft pick has made a strong case for the Week 1 starting job. His performance in the first Giants joint practice was the best by any Patriots quarterback this summer. Even if Belichick opts to stick with Cam Newton to start — a very real possibility after Jones came back to Earth on Wednesday — it feels like only a matter of time before the rookie claims the top job.
Honorable mentions include cornerback J.C. Jackson, offensive tackle Trent Brown, defensive tackle Christian Barmore and linebacker Kyle Van Noy.
With that, let’s dive into the questions:
@thisryanjackson
how do you think they approach playing time in game 3 of the preseason now that it’s the last game
Great question. Honestly, I don’t know. In a traditional four-game preseason, established starters typically would play a full half or more in the third exhibition game and not at all in the fourth. Now, with just three preseason games and a week off before the regular-season opener, you’ll probably see a hybrid of the two.
I would guess the Patriots will give most of their starters at least some playing time Sunday night against the Giants, but I can’t say that with any certainty. I’m most interested to see how Bill Belichick splits the QB reps between Newton and Jones (and Brian Hoyer).
@mthibeault19
If Jon Jones is out for extended time, does Mills get most or slot reps or does Wade?
Jalen Mills probably will be the top option in the slot if Jonathan Jones misses time, at least to start. Shaun Wade, whom the Patriots acquired in a trade Thursday, is an intriguing prospect who was worth the gamble, but he was about to be cut by the Baltimore Ravens and will need to learn the Patriots’ defense. He also was awful during his final season at Ohio State. I wouldn’t expect him to be an immediate contributor.
Jones limped off the practice field Thursday after also sitting out last week in Philadelphia. As of Thursday night, the severity of his injury was unclear.
@NumberOneDingus
It feels like there will be a ton of decisions made for the front 7 in the next few days. Where do guys like Winovich, Anderson, and Langi end up for you?
Definitely some tough calls coming in that front seven. As for the three players you mentioned:
— Chase Winovich should be safe, barring a trade. He’s been rotating in with the defensive starters since his delayed training camp debut and provides value as a pass rusher and special teams contributor.
— I thought Henry Anderson might be a surprise cut candidate since he often repped with the scout-team defense and played deep into preseason games, but Bill Belichick recently raved about his ability to play any position along the defensive line (“There’s not really many players that do that”) and said he’s “really been a good player to work with.” He’ll be on the right side of the cutline in my final 53-man roster projection.
— Harvey Langi isn’t a roster lock, but he has a good chance of sticking around as a reserve inside linebacker and core special teamer. He’s seen a lot of run with New England’s top kicking game units.
To me, the most intriguing player here from a roster standpoint is Anfernee Jennings. He was a third-round pick just last year, but he’s missed a lot of time this summer and hasn’t flashed in any significant way.
I’m also interested to see what the Patriots’ final D-line looks like. There’s a bubble battle there between Carl Davis, Akeem Spence and Montravius Adams. (Davis would be my pick.)
@MerrittPeasley
Is there any injury update on Henry?
He’s improving. Hunter Henry practiced this week in a red non-contact jersey, taking part in 7-on-7 drills but sitting out 11-on-11s. That’s more than he did the week prior when he would show up to practice in full pads, warm up and then split off from the main field to do rehab/conditioning work with strength coach Moses Cabrera.
Henry, who’s recovering from a shoulder injury he suffered Aug. 8, most likely won’t play against the Giants on Sunday, but a Week 1 return seems plausible based on his current trajectory.
@salvaje50
Is Cajuste the 3rd tackle?
No player has boosted his stock more in the last week or so than Yodny Cajuste. Even a week or two into camp, I thought he had almost zero shot of making the team. But he played well against Philadelphia, and this week, he was the top backup for left tackle Isaiah Wynn, filling in on the first-team offensive line after Wynn left Wednesday’s practice early. He’s also taken reps at right tackle behind starter Trent Brown.
Justin Herron appeared to have the third tackle spot locked down, but Cajuste could be making a late push for that role. It’s been a pretty incredible rise for a player who was drafted in the third round in 2019 but has yet to play a single regular-season snap at the NFL level.
@Soxnation0613
Sounds like the right side of the offensive line has been great for the run game. How has the left side faired with omwenu and wynn?
Very well. Some of Damien Harris’ best runs of camp were behind Wynn and left guard Mike Onwenu. New England’s starting five of Wynn, Onwenu, David Andrews, Shaq Mason and Brown should be one of the NFL’s best.
@skippylongstalking
Is folk the kicker?
Yeah, I’d definitely consider Nick Folk to be the favorite in the Patriots’ kicker competition. He was out for a good chunk of training camp but has looked solid since he returned. The 36-year-old doesn’t have Quinn Nordin’s leg, but he’s reliable, making a career-best 92.9 percent of his field-goal attempts last season.
I think Nordin’s three shanks in last week’s preseason game sealed his fate. I do expect the Patriots to try to keep him around on the practice squad, though. He looked great before that Eagles matchup.
@GeorgePlante7
Breakout player of the year will be…
Uche. Book it.
