The first preseason game for the New England Patriots featured a short cameo from suspended bad boy Tom Brady and a lot of scrambling from backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo behind a broken offensive line resulting in a 22-11 loss. Hardcore fans of the team may be disappointed but the preseason is about growth and making the roster. Here are three members of the Patriots that improved their stock in the first week and three who moved closer to being cut.
Three Up
James White – The biggest surprise of the first game may have been how comfortable James White looked in the backfield. With his competition sidelined with injuries, James White went out and made a legitimate case as the scat back with four catches for 52 yards. White was unimpressive carrying the ball between the tackles and remains raw as a blocker but in space out of the backfield was tremendous and showed a consistent ability to make the first man miss. The majority of White’s opportunities will continue to come on short outs and screens therefore picking up yards after the catch will be crucial for him to keep getting snaps. White may not have the ability to run routes like a receiver that Shane Vereen had but he showed a consistent ability to be a safety valve for the man under center.
Robert McClain – The slot corner who signed from Atlanta this offseason came entered preseason as a bit of an afterthought because he isn’t in contention for the number two corner role. McClain left the first preseason game with many comparisons to Kyle Arrington and a few pass breakups. Consistently lining up on the interior wide receiver McClain competed making every catch difficult and made some truly impressive tackles for a slot corner. His aggression and quickness should allow him to be a chess piece for Bill Belichick when game planning for opposition.
Trey Flowers – A surprising amount of hype surrounded the mid round pick out of Arkansas entering the preseason and in a short time flowers managed to flash on the edge. Recording an early sack on Aaron Rogers and showing a strong ability to stop the run Flowers came as advertised before leaving with an injury before the half. With Jones, Ninkovich and Sheard likely ahead of him, Flowers could be an impactful sub as well as a situational pass rusher on the interior or run stopper on the edge.
Three Down
Josh Boyce – Not a single player on the New England roster hurt their chances of making the team more than the third year wide out from TCU. Despite Boyce being targeted 11 times throughout the game and clearly being the focal point of the offense, he only caught two passes for 19 yards. Some of these balls were badly underthrown by Jimmy G and Boyce looked impactful on kick returns but he failed to fight for the ball on Garoppolo’s interception as well as making some poor plays on balls in traffic that a better receiver catches. Boyce has already been cut by the team before and appears to be sticking around simply because of his athleticism at this point, however if he doesn’t improve his athleticism won’t be enough to make the team.
Logan Ryan/ Bradley Fletcher–. The last memory most fans have of Logan Ryan is the atrocious TD he let up in the front corner of the end zone in the Super Bowl, and the only exposure to Fletcher that most Patriots fans have is highlights of him getting burnt in Philadelphia. Both Ryan and Fletcher managed to erase any possible confidence in the two in game one of the preseason with their lackluster performances. Ryan continued to look uncomfortable on the outside against bigger receivers getting beat off the line and subsequently allowing catches over the middle, while Fletcher’s one highlight was a huge hit that he applied on his own teammate allowing Green Bay an easy touchdown run. One game doesn’t tell the whole story, but the team cannot be happy with the lack of competitive play out of their corners who potentially could fight for the number two corner role.
The Backup O-Line – In a game when the New England starting O-line essentially had the day off, the backup lineman showed a weak ability to stop the Packers’ pass rush. For the majority of the game Jimmy Garoppolo was either on his back or running for his life resulting in seven sacks and a bevy of short dump passes causing Garoppolo’s poor yardage (159) on a high amount of attempts (30). Such trouble should probably be expected from a patchwork line but with less than 70 rushing yards the line couldn’t get it done going forward or backward. That being said the line play quality should increase as starters trickle back into the lineup.
Further Viewing Required
Malcolm Butler – The Super Bowl hero was hardly on the field Thursday night leaving fans with a small sample size but also proving that the right corner spot is his to lose. In his time on the field, Butler looked like the most competitive corner making his opposition fight for every catch. Coming into the game Butler was the frontrunner for a starting corner spot and successfully held his spot while other corners such as Logan Ryan and Bradley Fletcher had middling performances. Butler’s play should be the focus of the defense as the rest of the preseason unfolds as he could be the lynchpin for the secondary’s success.
Darryl Roberts – Roberts started the game receiving significant playing time on the left side opposite Jordy Nelson but vanished early in the game with an undisclosed injury. Offering a competitive man coverage style of play it appeared that Roberts would have received a large number of snaps in game one if not for his injury. As a seventh round pick, Roberts doesn’t have much room to miss time in practice, so he will need to play and play well in games two and three to make the team.
Jimmy Garoppolo – After being sacked seven times over the course of the game, it’s actually quite impressive that Garoppolo managed to complete 20 of 30 passes. Unfortunately for him these passes were for a measly 159 yards as most were quick hits or dump offs. Garoppolo also probably should have had a few more incompletions via throwing the ball away on a broken play. The young quarterback showed his feet outside of the pocket and strong arm over the middle while also showing poor pocket awareness and leaving several deep balls short. Overall, game one was a sort of wash for the second year quarterback who will have more opportunities as the preseason progresses.