Some quick thoughts on this Saturday:
1) Hit on Zappe was a good reason why Maye came out early: The discussion on Friday obviously centered around the fact Drake Maye saw limited game action Friday night, but there was one play that was a reminder of why the club might have been being extra careful with their young quarterback.
Bailey Zappe, who came in late in the first quarter and remained in there until there was 6:18 left to go in the third quarter, took a vicious sack with just over 8:00 remaining in the third, which saw him in there with a line that consisted of Calvin Anderson at left tackle, rookie Layden Robinson at left guard, Atonio Mafi at center, Michael Jordan at right guard, and Caedan Wallace at right tackle.
On the play, Anderson got beat off the edge by Panthers defensive end Derrick McLendon, who forced Zappe to his right where linebacker D.J. Johnson got a hand on him, with McLendon then wrapping Zappe up from behind and dropping him to the turf for the sack.
This sack of Bailey Zappe was a reminder of why the Patriots may have been being careful with Drake Maye. Shoulder gets driven into the ground, gets up slowly.
Offensive line on this play:
LT Calvin Anderson
LG Layden Robinson
C Atonio Mafi
RG Michael Jordan
RT Caedan Wallace pic.twitter.com/BbcvnPxD8L— PatsFans.com (@PatsFans) August 10, 2024
On the play, Zappe’s shoulder was driven into the ground, with the veteran QB getting up slowly and wincing as he got back to the huddle.
Head coach Jerod Mayo admitted on Friday that guys along the starting group were dinged up and he limited their play to two series, one with Jacoby Brissett and the other with Maye.
“Yeah, a lot of these guys, some of them have nicks and things like that,” said Mayo. “In saying that, once again, we’re trying to find the best five offensive linemen to go out there and produce for us. Hopefully, after we get out of this Eagles week, we have a better idea of what that five looks like.
It certainly felt like he didn’t want Maye taking snaps behind that second group, and that hit on Zappe was an example why it may have been the better move until the starters get a little healthier.
2) Defense Played Inspired Football: One of the biggest questions heading into this season is how the defense is going to look now that Bill Belichick is no longer in the fold and on Thursday night, we got a quick glimpse at a unit that certainly didn’t look like they were playing a preseason game.
For a game where most players aren’t usually excited to be out there putting their bodies on the line without a tangible reason, Jerod Mayo’s defense went out and was flying around the field, making plays against a Carolina Panthers team that they shut out throughout the majority of the evening.
Obviously, the key question is going to be how they fare against better teams and whether or not they can dial up the same type of defenses we’ve seen Belichick put together to shut down good teams. But the fact they went out and put up that kind of effort tells you where things stand with this group and its coaching staff.
So far with Mayo, his team has responded well given what limited action we’ve seen, and it’s definitely a positive sign heading into the season.
3) JuJu’s Departure: The Patriots finally parted ways with wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster on Friday, ending what may have been one of the pivotal signings of Belichick’s tenure, and not in a good way.
The 3-year deal he signed a year ago came at the expense of Jacoby Meyers, who departed via free agency to the Raiders after the Patriots didn’t extend him. Meyers’ loss was critical because he had been the team’s leading 3rd down receiver for multiple seasons, and his loss took away the one player the offense had in those “gotta have it” moments.
That left both Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe without a reliable target in an offense that finished 2023 at the bottom of the league, and they were never able to really replace Meyers’ production on offense.
Coming off the knee injury he suffered with Kansas City ahead of his signing, Smith-Schuster wasn’t able to get back to the level he had been at prior to getting hurt, citing his health not being 100% as the reason for his issues last season.
So far this preseason, despite previously claiming during camp that he’s now healthy, he still hasn’t been looked like the player he was prior to his signing.
The result was, unfortunately, a horrific return on investment for the Patriots. The one positive is that removing him from the equation now provides more reps to the younger players, while hopefully allowing some additional growth from that standpoint over these coming weeks.
4) Patriots Worked Out Players Friday: According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, the Patriots worked out RB Nick Bawden, WR Isaiah Ford, TE Neal Johnson, and C Mike Novitsky on Friday.
Ford’s name is interesting as he has some familiarity with the team, with the Patriots previously acquiring him back in November of 2020 from Miami, although he was waived just over a month later.
Mayo did say on Friday that the club was working out some offensive linemen, although no names emerged in terms of who that might have been.
The Patriots still clearly have questions at tackle, with that likely continuing to be an area they’ll potentially explore their options in these coming weeks.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
The whole topic of “Maye’s reps being a huge missed opportunity”(Tom Curran) is a joke. Why? Maye and Brisset are getting almost all the snaps in practice. Zappe/Milton get little to none. Controlled practives with a RED vest on offer what those QBs and the coaches need. Poor poor CAR fans, they had ALL their starters out. 31 guys out, and or the same reason. Injury risk isn’t an accepted risk if your getting what you need in practice. Preseason games are not for the fans to see their shiny toys. Always been that way. Nothing changed accept now we… Read more »