FOXBORO, Mass. — The New England Patriots notched their first victory of the 2022 preseason Friday night, defeating the Carolina Panthers 20-10 at Gillette Stadium.
The teams took different gameday approaches after squaring off in two highly contentious joint practices, with New England choosing to play its starters on both sides of the ball while Carolina trotted out backups.
Here are nine takeaways from exhibition game No. 2:
1. Matt Patricia calls plays (all of them)
In last week’s preseason opener against the New York Giants, Patricia called the plays for quarterback Brian Hoyer, then ceded those duties to Joe Judge when rookie Bailey Zappe entered the game. That was not the case in this game.
Patricia was the Patriots’ sole offensive play-caller Friday night, doing so for Mac Jones, Hoyer and Zappe.
Does this mean the play-caller “process” Bill Belichick refrenced after last week’s game is complete? We’ll see. There were rumors this week that Belichick himself was calling plays in some joint practice periods.
But this seems to suggest Patricia will be the voice in Jones’ helmet when the regular season begins.
2. Mac Jones starts slow, then goes deep
With the Patriots sitting most of their regulars against the Giants, this was our first chance to see Jones and New England’s new starting offense in a non-practice setting. How did they look? At first, not great.
Jones’ ball placement was off on each of his first three pass attempts — slightly behind DeVante Parker, too high for Jakobi Meyers and over the head of Rhamondre Stevenson — and the Patriots opened with back-to-back three-and-outs, gaining just 3 total yards.
Things improved on their possession, however. Jones hit Nelson Agholor and Ty Montgomery to move the chains on third-and-5 and third-and-4, then uncorked a perfectly placed deep ball to Agholor for a 45-yard gain.
Jones followed that completion with a 7-yard scramble to set up a 2-yard touchdown plunge by Montgomery. That score ended Jones’ night, with backup Brian Hoyer subbing in on the next offensive series.
Overall, this wasn’t an especially impressive 2022 debut for the second-year quarterback, especially since he was going against Carolina’s second-teamers. But the bomb to Agholor salvaged his brief outing. Those two have shown a much stronger connection this summer.
3. Surprise DNPs
Wide receiver Kendrick Bourne and starting left tackle Trent Brown were not in uniform for the Patriots. Neither absence was expected, as Bourne and Brown both were full participants in Wednesday’s joint practice and the Patriots played their starters.
Bourne’s was especially notable, as he’s been surprisingly quiet in training camp and was kicked out of Tuesday’s practice for fighting. With Meyers, Parker and Agholor holding down the top three spots on the depth chart and rookie Tyquan Thornton showing promise this summer, could Bourne find himself on the trade block?
Tight end Hunter Henry, offensive tackles Isaiah Wynn and Justin Herron, wide receiver Kristian Wilkerson and offensive linemen Bill Murray and Andrew Stueber also did not dress for New England. All have been dealing with injuries.
4. Tyquan Thornton injured
Thornton exited the game with a shoulder injury and did not return. It was not immediately clear how the first-year wideout suffered the injury nor how severe it was, but a player officially being ruled out — as Thornton was during the second half — typically is an ominous sign.
5. Tavai, Jennings run with the 1s
Some notable defensive starters for New England: Jahlani Tavai was at inside linebacker next to Ja’Whaun Bentley, starting over Raekwon McMillan. Anfernee Jennings started at outside linebacker opposite Matthew Judon, a sign of how far his stock has risen after an injury wiped out his 2021 season.
Tavai, who’s not known for his coverage skills, struggled to keep up with tight end Giovanni Ricci on a 21-yard completion.
McMillan and Josh Uche rotated in on passing downs. Mack Wilson didn’t see the field until the Patriots began mixing in their second-teamers, but he quickly made an impact, dishing out a few powerful hits and nearly intercepting a Matt Corral pass.
6. Patriots’ pass rush looks fierce
The Panthers had a hard time blocking New England’s pass rushers this week, and that trend continued Friday night. Deatrich Wise and Uche bagged early sacks on quarterback P.J. Walker, with Judon also in the vicinity on both. Later, Judon batted down a Walker pass at the line.
New England’s reserves got after Walker and Corral, too. The Patriots finished with five total sacks, including a sack-fumble by undrafted free agent DaMarcus Mitchell in the final minutes that was recovered by sixth-round rookie Sam Roberts for a touchdown.
7. Cornerback picture crystalizing
Jalen Mills and Jonathan Jones started at the two outside cornerback spots, as they had in the last five training camp practices.
Jones, who’s primarily been a slot defender throughout his career, held up well in his new role. He was beaten once for a third-down conversion but had tight coverage on two deep third-down incompletions.
Mills and Jones look like the clear favorites to start in Week 1. As for who will man the slot, Myles Bryant seems to have a lead over Marcus Jones in that position battle.
Bryant was the top option there in both joint practices, and he started Friday night. Jones’ first snaps didn’t come until the final two minutes of the first half. Bryant also was the Patriots’ top punt returner for the second consecutive week, with Jones taking over after halftime.
Further down the cornerback depth chart, we saw nice plays from Shaun Wade and fourth-round rookie Jack Jones. Wade intercepted an ill-advised pass by Walker, and Jones nearly grabbed a pick of his own when he perfectly mirrored receiver Derek Wright’s route.
With Wade and Bryant making strong pushes for roster spots, there will be some tough cuts in this position group.
8. Running back rotation
The Patriots gave each of their top three backs extended playing time in the first half, cycling through Damien Harris, Stevenson and Montgomery on a drive-by-drive basis.
Montgomery flashed on the Patriots’ lone touchdown drive with two first downs, a 6-yard pickup on first-and-10 and the 2-yard score. Expect the versatile veteran to take on at least a portion of James White’s third-down back duties this season.
J.J. Taylor and rookies Pierre Strong and Kevin Harris played the second half. Taylor showed good burst as a runner and laid out Panthers safety Kenny Robinson with a textbook blitz pickup.
9. An under-the-radar wideout impresses again
Lil’Jordan Humphrey probably won’t make the Patriots’ 53-man roster, but the 24-year-old receiver has made the most of his preseason opportunities.
After catching six passes for 62 yards and a touchdown against the Giants, he grabbed five for 71 against Carolina — including a few nice downfield strikes from Zappe on the opening drive of the second half — and added a standout play on special teams, downing a Jake Bailey punt just shy of the Panthers’ goal line.
Speaking of special teams standouts, UDFA safety Brenden Schooler continued to bolster his roster case by recording a tackle in kickoff coverage, nearly downing a punt inside the 5 and closing out the game with a garbage-time interception.
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