The preseason is over and the Patriots future looks bright.
Rookie quarterback Drake Maye had some exciting moments in the Patriots preseason finale on Sunday night. The No. 3 overall pick showed off his athleticism and arm strength against the Washington Commanders.
It was an exciting showcase of what might be in New England in the coming seasons. Of course, we still don’t know if Maye will start or play this season.
Sunday night’s preseason finale also saw projected starter Jacoby Brissett suffer a right shoulder injury due to a poor play from the offensive line.
The Patriots o-line had a horrible first half that saw a laundry list of mistakes. These errors led to Brissett’s injury and even a negated Maye touchdown. The Patriots can only hope that Brissett’s injury isn’t serious and that the team’s offensive line will improve this fall.
Here’s a look at who’s trending up and who’s trending down with the regular season less than two weeks away:
Drake Maye
Maye took over for Brissett in the Patriots second drive and it wasn’t long before he showed off.
After a bad snap put the Patriots in a hole, Maye took off and ran for 17 yards on third-and-14. Two plays later, he hit rookie receiver Ja’Lynn Polk for a 29-yard gain. Next up, on third-and-8, Maye connected with DeMario ‘Pop’ Douglas for a 16-yard completion.
Two plays later, the rookie quarterback hit Kevin Harris and the running back made multiple defensive players miss en route to an 18-yard touchdown with 40 seconds left in the first quarter.
After the score, former Patriots receiver and NFL Hall of Famer Randy Moss tweeted, “Youngin looking good, huh?”
In that first drive, Maye completed 5-of-6 passes for 71 yards with the touchdown.
In his second drive, Maye lost his left shoe on the first snap when left guard Sidy Sow stepped on his foot. However, the young quarterback still connected with running back JaMychal Hasty for a 14-yard gain.
That drive went nowhere as the offense dealt with a false start, a blown-up screen pass, and an illegal formation penalty (on a third-down play that went for zero yards).
Maye’s next two drives also resulted in punts as the Patriots offensive line struggled mightily. The group was whistled for four penalties in those two series.
In the next series, Maye had multiple nice throws, but not all counted due to penalties. He hit Javon Baker for a 16-yard gain and then connected with Polk for a 13-yard pass play, which was negated due to a holding call. Two plays later, Maye hit K.J. Osborn for a 48-yard touchdown pass. However, that was negated due to an illegal formation penalty by Chuks Okorafor.
Despite the offensive line blunders, the rookie quarterback looked composed. Maye completed 13/20 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown.
Backup running backs
The Patriots didn’t play Rhamondre Stevenson on Sunday, but the running back group delivered an encouraging performance.
Antonio Gibson started the game and played one series. He picked up a first down with a 13-yard catch and run. He also ran the ball three times for 17 yards, averaging 5.7 yards per carry.
Gibson is a roster lock, but that’s not the case for Kevin Harris and JaMychal Hasty. Both backup running backs made good cases for spots on the Patriots 53-man roster. Harris had one of the highlights of the night when he caught a pass in the flat, made a defensive player miss, and then jumped over another en route to an 18-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter.
Hasty was also one of the most productive players for the Patriots on Sunday. He ran the ball four times for 21 yards (5.3 yards per carry) and caught three passes for 24 yards.
Roster bubble linebackers
The preseason finale is mainly reserved for players fighting for roster spots. On defense, the Patriots sat projected starting linebackers Jahlani Tavai and Ja’Whaun Bentley. That led to more playing time for linebackers fighting for jobs.
On Sunday, the Patriots received encouraging performances from Joe Giles-Harris and Christian Ellis.
Giles-Harris intercepted Commanders quarterback Jeff Driskel at 8:33 of the second quarter. The linebacker, who worked his way into the Patriots top defense in practice, has had a solid training camp in Foxborough. Giles-Harris also had five tackles.
Elliss was a core special teamer for the Patriots at the end of last season. On Sunday, he played well on defense. Elliss led the Patriots in tackles with 11 before departing the game with a head injury.
Offensive line
The Patriots debuted a new offensive line alignment on Sunday night – and although it first looked promising, the play on the field was anything but encouraging.
The team started Michael Onwenu (right tackle), Layden Robinson (right guard), Nick Leverett (center), Sidy Sow (left guard), and Chuks Okorafor (left tackle). In the first half, the offensive line had a laundry list of miscues – sack allowed, two bad snaps, a false start, three holding penalties, four illegal formation penalties (one negated a touchdown) and someone even dislodged a quarterback’s shoe.
In the first drive, at 12:30, Sow ran into Robinson, and that allowed Commanders defensive end K.J. Henry to get a clean sack on Brissett, who looked shaken up.
In the second drive, Maye’s first snap was a bad snap by Leverett for a loss of eight yards. Leverett had another bad snap that drive for a loss of three yards. Two plays later, Robinson missed a block on Commanders defensive end Javontae Jean-Baptiste, who dropped Hasty for a loss of two yards.
In the third series, Sow stepped on Maye’s left foot and the quarterback lost his shoe. One play later, Robinson was whistled for a false start. The drive ended on a play that resulted in zero yards, but Okorafor was whistled for illegal formation (which was declined).In the fourth series, Okorafor was whistled for another illegal formation penalty (which was also declined).
In the fifth series, the Patriots had two holding penalties with one on Robinson and one on Sow on third down at the same time Onwenu was flagged for illegal formation (both were declined).
In the sixth series, Sow left the field due to an ankle injury. His replacement, Michael Jordan, was flagged for a hold. In that drive, Maye hit K.J. Osborn for a 48-yard touchdown, but it was negated due to Okorafor’s third illegal formation penalty.
Jacoby Brissett
It wasn’t his fault, but Brissett’s night didn’t go as planned.
The veteran quarterback played one series before suffering a right shoulder injury.
Brissett’s first drive looked promising after the quarterback hit Antonio Gibson for a 13-yard play on third-and-5. After Gibson picked up another first down, on the ground, the Patriots were at midfield. However, that’s where things went awry.
At 12:30 of the first quarter, Commanders defensive lineman K.J. Henry went unblocked, when guard Sidy Sow ran into guard Layden Robinson, and delivered a crushing sack on Brissett. The veteran quarterback looked shaken up as he landed hard on his left shoulder. Brissett threw two passes on the next two snaps and had a nice deep pass on third down, but it fell incomplete as K.J. Osborn failed to get two hands on the ball.
Brissett looked in pain and on the next offensive series, the Patriots opted to keep him on the sideline. The team announced he suffered a right shoulder injury. The veteran quarterback finished 2-of-4 for 19 yards on the night.
Brissett played in five offensive drives this preseason. His group scored zero points.
Azizi Hearn
It was a rough preseason finale for Azizi Hearn.
The cornerback is fighting for a roster spot – and most likely a spot on the Patriots practice squad. Sunday night might not help his chances.
In the late fourth quarter, Hearn attempted to tackle quarterback Trace McSorley, but the Commanders backup hit Hearn with his right shoulder and dropped the cornerback on the ground. The Washington sideline went nuts. Hearn had a chance to redeem himself, but on the next play, the cornerback was flagged for pass interference. That cost the defense 19 yards.
Three plays later, McSorley beat Hearn for a 4-yard touchdown to Martavis Bryant at 3:10 of the fourth quarter.
