Good morning, and a happy Sunday to all. Here is your Patriots news and notes for 08-23 after the second preseason game against the Eagles is in the books.
The Patriots and Eagles wrapped up a good week with not one but two very good joint practices. Each team got a lot out of the sessions, which is the entire point, allowing each team to work on areas of their respective games that the coaches identified as needing improvement.
And rather than a game situation, the joint practices allowed the team to do just that. Sometimes fans (and the media) get too hung up on who “won” the practices, even though these sessions are strictly cooperative test beds for development, not competitive games.
Teams do not game plan or try to trick each other; they focus on execution, technique, and evaluating depth rather than exposing a game plan.
The objective is for both coaching staffs to get quality, high-intensity reps against a high-quality opponent while keeping key players healthy.
That said, the joint practices were good for both teams. After two weeks of practice, mainly against each other, the Patriots welcomed the Eagles, who are considered one of the top teams in the NFC.
The Eagles are outstanding in the trenches offensively and defensively, two areas that the Patriots have questions about: their ability to run the ball and stop the run. So, it was a good gauge of how the team views this at this early juncture.
Overall, the Patriots looked evenly matched with Philadelphia for much of the practice sessions. This was significant because two years ago, the Eagles beat the pants off the Patriots, dominating them en route to a Super Bowl win. The Patriots finished 4-13. Now, they are cementing the fact that last season wasn’t a fluke and that they are going to be a team to be reckoned with.
There still remain questions about the team’s ability to run the ball and stop the run, where some of their depth players got extended looks in practice. We’ll delve into this more below.
Quick Hitters For the Patriots and NFL News
Kayshon Boutte: The Patriots’ wide receiver has been the subject of trade rumors since last season, and those have really picked up steam since the arrival of A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs.
This past week, NBC Houston’s Aaron Wilson reported that Texans GM Nick Caserio reached out to the Patriots about Boutte’s availability, as well as to other teams, following WR Jayden Higgins’s ACL tear. Houston’s Jaylin Noel has been sidelined with finger and hamstring issues, leaving the team’s depth at WR thin.
While nothing is considered imminent, moving Boutte to an AFC playoff team, whom the Patriots played in the divisional round last year, should be done with the understanding that this isn’t going to be a bargain-basement sale. The Patriots should, and rightfully so, increase the price, as has been done to them in the past.
This will be worth watching between now and the end of the preseason, when rosters are cut down to the 53-man limit.
Will Campbell: The Patriots’ second-year left tackle worked out with Philly’s Lane Johnson, Tampa’s Tristan Wirfs, and the Bills’ Dion Dawkins this offseason. The trio of All Pros, headlined by Johnson, widely considered the best RT in the NFL, gave Campbell a chance to learn alongside some of the best in the business.
Johnson was asked this week about Campbell and had some interesting comments about the young Patriots’ tackle.
“Will just kinda reminds me of myself, in a way. Just a country kid drafted first round,” Johnson said to MassLive’s Chris Mason. “I know the pressures that are on guys like that.”
“I thought he had a really good rookie season. For me, I think talking to him and just—really, our lives are pretty similar in a lot of ways. Just what we’re doing,” Johnson said. “You can see him just getting better. I was watching him some today. He looks thicker and bigger. He’s healed up from his knee injury.”
Patriots No Huddle Podcast: Derek and I were back on Thursday afternoon to talk about the Patriots’ joint practices with the Eagles on the PatsFans.com website. We did a post-game podcast after the Eagles game as well.
You can always check out our other podcasts on our YouTube channel.
Please check it out. And be sure to like, share, and leave us a review.
Russ Francis/Chuck Fairbanks: The former Patriots tight end and head coach should be in the Patriots’ team Hall of Fame, and the fact that Francis isn’t is an absolute travesty. Francis and the Raiders’ Dave Casper changed how teams used the tight end position.
We will continue to display this in our Sunday posts until it happens. Casper is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Francis’ numbers stand up well against Casper’s, yet he isn’t even in the team’s HOF.
Patriots – Eagles Observations From Preseason Game 2
The Patriots and Eagles wrapped up a solid week of work on Saturday night in Gillette Stadium, with the Patriots prevailing with a late score, 24-21. However, things got off to a horrible start.
The Eagles’ Ja’Quinden Jackson was knocked out during the opening kickoff and was taken off the field by an ambulance. It was later reported that he had use of all of his extremities, which was a very positive sign.
The Patriots’ offense suffered a near pick-six, two holding penalties, and two one-yard runs. One nice play was a 28-yard screen pass to Lan Larison. But then Marcus Bryant was injured and was brought into the blue medical tent.
The first quarter, defensively, was a repeat of the team’s weakness: the Eagles running the ball extremely effectively and chewing up first downs, while the Patriots were unable to run at all.
The Eagles ran it in for a touchdown on the second play of the second quarter from the five, with the left side of the line just pushing the Patriots’ defenders backward.
The Patriots would answer with a field goal, where the majority of the yardage was a 36-yard scramble from Tommy DeVito.
Late in the second quarter, DeVito hit Kyle Williams with a beautifully thrown 69-yard touchdown pass, where Williams ran right past the coverage. DeVito finished the first half 8-15 for 151 yards and a TD. He also ran for 44 yards on three rushes.
Efton Chism continued to stack good days together and had another strong game, showing the ability to get open, make tacklers miss, and get some yards after the catch.
Kindle Vildor was very aggressive and was around the ball on three plays during one drive, just barely missing a pick. He seems on track to carve out a roster spot.
After playing well against the pass for the majority of the first half, the secondary was gashed badly in the final two minutes by Philly’s offense, with Tanner McKeey hitting Britain Covey with a 14-yard touchdown, taking the lead 14-10.
The Patriots played much better in the trenches in the second half, limiting the Eagles’ running game and running the ball better as well. Behren Morton led the team on a nice touchdown drive to take a 17-14 lead early in the fourth quarter.
However, they were caught in a blitz on 3rd-and-5, and Steele caught them cold for an easy 20-yard touchdown, putting the Eagles up 21-14. It drives home the point that the pass rush is having trouble getting home without blitzing. And eventually, that will cost you.
Morton then led the Patriots in a very nice two-minute drill and delivered a 38-yard strike for a touchdown with 57 seconds left to Nick DeGennaro.
The Patriots’ Passing Game Is Primed For a Big 2026
The Patriots had a very good passing attack in 2025: Drake Maye passed for 4,394 yards (4th in the NFL), 31 TDs (3rd), only 8 interceptions, a 72% completion percentage (1st), and a passer rating of 113.5 (1st).
Now in his 2nd season in Josh McDaniels’ offense, Maye seems so far ahead of where he was a year ago in terms of comfort with the system, his ability to process things quickly and prior to the snap, and his command of the offense.
The Patriots added WRs A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs during the offseason and drafted TE Eli Raridon in the 3rd Round (95th overall) in the 2026 NFL Draft.
The offense already featured Hunter Henry, Kayshon Boutte, DeMario Douglas, TreVeyon Henderson, and Rhamondre Stevenson. A.J. Brown gives Maye a true No. 1 target, something the Patriots didn’t really have last year, which alone raises the ceiling of the passing game since Maye no longer has to manufacture separation-independent throws on early downs.
More weapons mean better matchups. That added depth gives McDaniels greater freedom to attack individual matchups rather than rely on a single offensive identity. Defenses can no longer just key on one guy.
The offensive line got another upgrade, which will protect Maye and set up play-action. Alijah Vera-Tucker significantly upgrades the line’s pass protection, with his veteran presence and size, alongside Will Campbell, providing more stability on the left side. The running game should also get a boost from the addition of Vera-Tucker and FB Reggie Gilliam.
Even though the offense was very good in 2025, one area that they struggled in was the red zone; the Patriots were 17th in RZ touchdowns scored at 57 percent.
Romeo Doubs, who is 6’2 and 210, has the size and experience to thrive in the RZ, something he did in Green Bay. Doubs scored 21 touchdowns as a Packer, and 20 of those came in the red zone. Coupled with the addition of A.J. Brown, those numbers should see a sharp uptick in success in 2026.
Doubs was heavily targeted in the red area last season, and Packer QB Jordan Love had a passer rating of 137.9 when targeting Doubs. The additions of Doubs, Brown, Vera-Tucker, and Gilliam should really help the Patriots turn their red zone offense from a weakness into a strength.
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“Somebody asked me what success looks like, and I said, ‘Yeah, you can judge it by wins and losses during the season, but success for me in the offseason is going to be that the players believe in what we’re doing, and they believe in the message, they believe in the teaching, and they believe in the connections that we’re making.’” — Mike Vrabel
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A former US Army Special Forces NCO and Officer, Steve has been following the Patriots since their days at Fenway Park. Steve has worked in the film industry and wrote as an Military Editor at SpecialOperations.com, 1945.com as a reporter for the Millbury Daily Voice, Millbury-Sutton Chronicle, and the Grafton News. He's also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA)
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