5 things to watch in Patriots preseason matchup against Philadelphia Eagles

FOXBOROUGH – Drake Maye still remembers his first couple of preseason games.

During his 2024 rookie season, the quarterback played limited reps in the Patriots’ preseason opener before getting more playing time the next week against the Philadelphia Eagles.

As a rookie, it was important for Maye to work on small things such as communicating in the huddle and running his first NFL offense. Now, in year three, there isn’t as big a need for Maye to play in a preseason game.

After two intense joint practices against the Eagles this week, it’ll be interesting to see if Maye plays in Saturday’s preseason game against Philadelphia.

“I think you take it back to looking at my Eagles preseason game my rookie year,” Maye said. “There’s some great things that you learn, and you learn about being in the huddle, and kind of the operation, and being in a stadium with the play clock and little things like that. Obviously, coming into my third year, I got a lot of that, kind of understand what it’s like. I’m just here with the guys and trying to get better. Whatever they think with the preseason, I’m here to play and ready to go out, and whatever they think, I’m here for them and here for this team.”

Last summer, Maye played in the Patriots’ first two preseason games against Washington and Minnesota. The quarterback sat out the preseason finale against the New York Giants. In that training camp, the Patriots held joint practices against the Commanders and Vikings.

Last week, Mike Vrabel said that Maye and the starters wouldn’t play against the Indianapolis Colts after having a good joint practice. It’ll be interesting to see if Vrabel does the same thing on Saturday after holding out most of his starters in the preseason opener.

Whether or not the starters play, there’s plenty to watch in this upcoming exhibition matchup.

Kayshon Boutte had an opportunity for a job interview of sorts last week. The receiver practiced against the Colts and then played against their defense in the preseason opener.

At the time, Indianapolis was in the market for receiver help.

However, this week, the team opted to sign veteran receiver Keenan Allen, 34, to a one-year deal worth up to $8.32 million.

The timing was interesting. Had Boutte impressed the Colts’ brass, would they have tried to trade for the Patriots receiver?

This spring, Boutte requested a trade out of New England. He’d prefer to go to a destination where he could maximize his value in a contract year. However, a trade hasn’t materialized – and after two days against the Colts, Indianapolis opted to shell out millions to an aging receiver instead of making a play for Boutte, 24.

Boutte didn’t see a target last week in that preseason game. Will that change on Saturday? Can Boutte drive up his trade value, or will he ultimately start the season in New England?

At this point, we know the Patriots’ starting offensive line will be Will Campbell (left tackle), Alijah Vera-Tucker (left guard), Jared Wilson (center), Michael Onwenu (right guard) and Morgan Moses (right tackle).

What we don’t know is how the backup offensive line will shake out come next month.

This week, the Patriots signed veteran Greg Van Roten, who should be their top backup guard. Ben Brown, who is injured, should be the top backup center. At tackle, the top backups are likely to be Caleb Lomu and Marcus Bryant.

There’s still room for a young offensive lineman to make the 53-man roster. With injuries to Brown and Andrew Rupcich, center Jacob Rizy and guard Mehki Butler have had more opportunity. Rizy has been impressive during 1-on-1 drills. A strong push in the preseason could make him a dark horse to make the roster or cement his spot on the practice squad.

The performance of this offensive line will be a top storyline this season.

It’s really hard to evaluate the run game during training camp. Although there’s contact, players ease up against their own teammates – and no one is playing recklessly. That’s not always the case during the games.

That’s why it’d be nice to see the Patriots run the ball efficiently at some point this offseason. Last week, the team averaged 2.6 yards per carry against the Colts. Even with the backups playing, that number should be better.

This is a great time for someone like Hassan Haskins, JaMychal Hasty, or Jam Miller to try and cement themselves as the Patriots’ No. 3 back behind Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson.

At times this summer, the Patriots pass rush hasn’t stood out on the edges of their defensive line. With Harold Landry injured, the team has relied on Dre’Mont Jones and Elijah Ponder. After losing K’Lavon Chaisson (7.5 sacks) in free agency, it’ll be interesting to see who picks up the pieces.

Last week, the Patriots started rookies Gabe Jacas and Quintayvious Hutchins at edge rusher. The team finished with just one sack (defensive tackle Joshua Farmer) and six quarterback hits, with two coming from an edge rusher (Bradyn Swinson and Jesse Luketa).

Will the Patriots have a better pass rush on Saturday against a better team? It would be nice to see some of the backups rise to the occasion.

Andy Borregales didn’t have the start to his preseason as was expected. The second-year kicker, who’s been great in training camp, missed three of his five attempts last week against the Indianapolis Colts.

That performance was surprising, but was it completely his fault?

That night, Borregales was working with a different long snapper, Niko Lalos, as Julian Ashby was out due to an ankle injury. This past week, Vrabel brought up that field goal operation when asked about Borregales bouncing back in practice.

The kicker looked great in joint practices. On Tuesday, he hit a 57-yard field goal and finished 6-of-7. We’ll see if he can continue that on Saturday – with Ashby back at long snapper.

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