What am I going to look at in Sunday\u2019s Pre-Season finale versus the Washington Commanders?<\/p>\n
First off, Head Coach Jerod Mayo said that \u201canyone that is healthy will play on Sunday\u201d.\u00a0 The first unit needs work.\u00a0 Jacoby Brissett has not been sharp in the 1st<\/sup> two Preseason games.\u00a0 Last week he led an opening drive down the field, only to throw a horrible interception at the goal line that was returned 47 yards setting up Philadelphia for a Field Goal.\u00a0 Not only didn\u2019t they get the 3 points or more on their own, but gave up field position, giving Philly a short field and 3 points.<\/p>\n Offensive Line<\/strong> remains the #1 problem for this team. \u00a0Vederian Lowe, who coaches praised for making so much progress in camp, appears to have a back injury that will keep him out of the game Sunday.\u00a0 This needs to be monitored as this will force them to play players at Left Tackle they don\u2019t want to.\u00a0 Chuks Okorafor has not played well trying to move from the Right Side to the Left.\u00a0 Rookie Caeden Wallace is trying to make a similar move from Right Tackle and he has had difficulty making the transition.\u00a0 Risky move by Eliot Wolf and the Patriots brain trust drafting a player that has played nothing but Right Tackle in his 5-year college career and try and switch him to Left Tackle.\u00a0 Wolf was unprepared for the run on Left Tackles in the 2nd<\/sup> round.\u00a0 They were left empty handed.\u00a0 It was known before the draft that they liked Wallace, but they had Michale Onwenu at Right Tackle.<\/p>\n The injury will force another shift on the line.\u00a0 Expect Mike Onwenu back at Right Tackle, Layden Robinson, who has been the top-rated OL in the Pre-season per Pro Football Focus (PFF), at Right Guard.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0David Andrews may start at Center but will quickly give way to Nick Leverett.\u00a0 Andrews has some minor injury that will limit his playing time.\u00a0 Sidy Sow at Left Guard and Chuks Okorafor at Left Tackle.\u00a0 Vederian Lowe has missed the practices this week and will be held out.\u00a0 Caeden Wallace will play with the second unit at both tackle spots.\u00a0 Liam Fornadel will again be the 3rd<\/sup> Center.\u00a0 He has had trouble with the exchange and has had a mis-snap every practice.<\/p>\n Quarterback<\/strong> There is no QB competition.\u00a0 Brissett is the starter and Maye the backup.\u00a0 Maye has been improving steadily through camp.\u00a0 Brissett has had two bad pre-season games.\u00a0 I expect that Brissett might get two series before getting lifted. \u00a0I hope that Maye gets some run with the 1st<\/sup> team Offensive line.\u00a0 It\u2019s very unusual that the #1 QB plays in this last pre-season game, but the Patriots starting unit needs reps together. \u00a0\u00a0Would like to see Maye follow up his last outing versus the Eagles with another solid performance.\u00a0 Keep in mind that Maye is facing inferior competition in 2nd<\/sup> and 3rd<\/sup> team players.\u00a0 He is struggling with pre-snap reads and if he is forced to play, will see blitzes he has never seen before.\u00a0 My hope is that he doesn\u2019t have to play at all this season.<\/p>\n Wide Receiver<\/strong> This has become quite a competition.\u00a0 Ja\u2019lynn Polk has established himself as the #1 receiver.\u00a0 Not far behind is Pop Douglas who has had a very good camp.\u00a0 The other starter (drum roll) Tyquan Thornton.\u00a0 Yes, I wrote Tyquan Thornton.\u00a0 AVP loves his ability to get deep.\u00a0 The question is whether he has developed the Receiver skills needed to battle DBs for the ball. \u00a0KJ Osborn has been making a late charge for a roster spot.\u00a0 On the other hand, Kayshon Boutte and Javon Baker have experienced a downturn.\u00a0 Baker will make the team based upon his draft position.\u00a0 Boutte makes some great catches, but he has come up with the dropsies in practice.\u00a0 Reagor is right in the thick of it and has special team kickoff return ability.\u00a0 Two of the three will make it.\u00a0 It may come down to how they play Sunday night.<\/p>\n Defensive Line<\/strong> They have been dealt a big blow with the blood clots to Christian Barmore.\u00a0 He will start the year on IR and may not be back at all this year.\u00a0 Mike Purcells was cut this week in what I thought was a big surprise because he is the only DL besides Godchaux to have the size for NT.\u00a0 Detrich Wise has not played well and his spot may be in danger.\u00a0 Armon Watts has been invisible.\u00a0 I thought he would tale Lawrence Guy\u2019s spot.\u00a0 Jeremiah Pharms has been the #1 DL so far in camp.\u00a0 He looks to be a starter in Barmore\u2019s spot.\u00a0 Dan Ekuale has been steady and good on the pass rush.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think Sam Roberts has the size to make it a DL.\u00a0 Trysten Hill has been showing flashes.\u00a0 He was a high draft pick of Dallas (2019 #2).\u00a0 He has the size at 6\u20193\u201d, 310 pounds.<\/p>\n CB\/S<\/strong> \u00a0There are several battles going on here.\u00a0 Looks like Isaiah Bolden and Shaun Wade are battling for the same position.\u00a0 Same with UDFA Dell Pettus and veteran Josh Bledsoe.\u00a0 So far it is Pettus that has the edge.\u00a0 He has just been balling out in practice and he really hits in the games.\u00a0 All four players are expected to play in Special Teams.\u00a0 Azizi Hearns was torched in practice but played very well in the two games.\u00a0 Looks like Jaylinn Hawkins will start at Free Safety, allowing Dugger and Peppers to wreak havoc from the hybrid LB\/SS position.\u00a0 Marco Wilson and Alex Austin are battling for the top backup spot at CB.\u00a0 Marcelleus Dial has cut himself with poor play in the two pre-season games.<\/p>\n Kicker<\/strong> It’s all going to come down to this game.\u00a0 Joey Slye has been the better kicker but its close.\u00a0 Chad Ryland will need to perform well in the game Sunday to keep his job.\u00a0 Either way, whoever wins the job will be on a short leash.<\/p>\n Edge<\/strong> William Bradley-King has been playing well lately and is making a push as an edge player.\u00a0 Josh Uche was nicked up and unable to practice, opening the door for Bradley-King.\u00a0 Let\u2019s see how he plays.\u00a0 I don\u2019t expect Keon White to play much Sunday.\u00a0 Bradley-King, Oshane Ximenes and Christian Ellis should get plenty of playing time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What am I going to look at in Sunday\u2019s Pre-Season finale versus the Washington Commanders?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":53531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_pfeai_meta_description":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-patriots-news"],"yoast_head":"\n