Patriots Preseason Game 2: A Win Over the Eagles in One of the Best Meaningless Games You'll Ever See

It's a weekend in August. There's still plenty of meat left on the bone of the Summer of 2026.I could be doing anything. Beaching it. Golfing. The Cape. Breweries. Eating oysters 50 feet from where they gave up their little bivalve lives for my enjoyment. Searching all of my home region for the elusive perfect lobster roll. Or I could be visiting my brother in Juneau and taking a cruise ship around southeastern Alaska. But I'm here. Writing about a game that we'll all forget happened in about three weeks when AirKraft One is touching down in Seattle. All I ask that my selflessness and self-sacrifice inspires heroism in others. 

Now onto the blog:

--The biggest surprise of this game is that an actual game broke out. Honestly, it's a damned shame it was just the football equivalent of two bands making a soundcheck because they rocked it. On paper it would've been the game of the week in the NFL. Two teams with Super Bowl aspirations. Three 4th quarter lead changes. The game-winning score coming like this:

And it ending on a strip sack by a Boston College rookie the Patriots took in the last half of the last round of the draft. But this one isn't on paper; it's on preseason paper. Which is the kind old time illegal bookmaking operations used to write betting slips on in case the cops busted in, because it burned fast. Presumably Behren Morton and Quintayvious Hitchens each have a Draft Pick's chance in August of landing on the practice squad. There's next to no chance we see Nick DeGennaro find a seat in an overcrowded wide receiver room. So instead let's ignore the score, no matter how hard the league works to keep it for us. And just, as always, make observations, not conclusions. 

--It's becoming increasingly clear that NFL teams are using joint practices to get ready for the regular season, and these games to give snaps to developmental players and figure out who ends up on what side of the roster bubble. If Stallone and David Callaham didn't already own the name, we could rebrand these games as The Expendables. And given this one began with Eagles RB Ja'Quinden Jackson lying motionless in front of a silent crowd, before being loaded onto an ambulance to polite applause, it was a reminder of the risks these guys who aren't guaranteed a job take this time of year. Fortunately the word in the press box was that he's got movement and strength in all his limbs. As someone who's old enough to have seen Daryl Stingley (look him up), that's the best news of the night. By far. 

--Staying with the theme of the Pats roster cutoffs - and crowded WR room - they're going to either trade Kayshon Boutte (who's established enough to have the night off), keep seven receivers, or choose between Kyle Williams or Efton Chism III. It's the Patriots version of two Survivor contestants facing off in a fire-making challenge. Williams did himself no favors by failing for the second straight fauxball game to come back on a deep ball. Making it fair to question whether he - as the kids are fond of saying nowadays - has that dawg in him. (Am I using that right? Am I being an OK Boomer?) But just when you were wondering that, he turned 5-year veteran Ambry Thomas into one of those rotisserie chickens they sell in a bag at Costco for like $1.29:

You can teach footwork and route-running. Williams is proof of that, since he's taken the Year 2 jump with his. You may or may not teach him how to win contested catches. But speed like his is coded into your DNA by a higher power than even Josh McDaniels and Todd Downing. I don't see how you give up on a guy capable of blowing by people that way. You trust your staff to scheme up ways to get him in space, and let him make himself uncoverable. 

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--Williams competition had a very good night. Chism's biggest play came on a Switch concept, where Williams cleared out the coverage with a Go route from the inside, and Chism ran a deep slant for 24:

Credit on that one to JaMycal Hasty for sticking his nose in on blitz pickup, and for Tommy DeVito for stepping up in the pocket and hitting his target on the hands. Chism also mixed in the sorts of shallow crosses, sits and juke routes that have been a staple of the slot receiver spot on this team since I was carrying a Palm Pilot. Including breaking a tackle on the outside off a designed rollout and turning it into 8 yards. Plus Chism is the one of the three with the most to contribute in special teams. So there's that.

--Personally, I want both of them plus Boutte. But given that none will make it through waivers , there are some difficult discussions ahead. 

--I'd love to report Tommy Cutlets, with his 8-for-15, 151 yards, 1 TD, 110.7 passer rating, cut a path through the Eagles defense like they were bowls of Strozzapreti on Federal Hill or sisters from Alpha Gamma Delta at Syracuse. But it wasn't that simple. Note that 69 of those yards came on the one throw to Williams. (Not the first time 151 included 69, amirite fellas? Heyooo!) And he added a 36-yard run behind Caleb Loum. But again there were misses. Balls he forced into tight windows, like on the very first possession when he tried to hit Williams on a Stop route with Kelee Ringo right there to break it up. And others where he just straight up missed his target. So he's capable of making any throw. Including the bad ones. 

--As for Morton, the highlight of his night wasn't even the game-winning bomb to DeGennaro. It was getting his punting leg going for the first time since high school. 

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In all he had three, for an average of 44.3, just a little over a yard short of Bryce Baringer. Granted, one was a 48 yard touchback, so a net of 28. Which I bet would've gotten your locker and parking space taken away at Eastland (TX) High. But anyone who remembers all the seasons Tommy Tupa was the punter and Drew Bledsoe's QB2 can tell you how much Bill Parcells used to get a smile on his jowls at the thought of saving that roster spot. So Baringer might want to start working on his passing arm. 

--I kept an eye on Lomu as much as I can remember ever focusing on a lineman in one of these games. Playing the left tackle spot for the entire night - the first time he's seen any extended reps there in a Pats uniform, his night was a trail mix of the bad with the good. He and LG Mehki Butler twice got burned by a delayed stunt where Joshua Weru dove in on Butler, while Ty Anderson came around the end, first for a QB hit, then for a sack:

And there was a time early on where the Pats needed a yard on 3rd down, Lomu got stood up by David Blay, and they needed the virtual measurement to pick it up. But by the end, Lomu and Butler were making room for Lan Larison in the red zone for 10 yards. And on the next play, they did just enough and he picked up the rest on his own:

I had started to write off my 2025 Camp Crush. But there's a chance Larison worked his way back into the conversation last night. 

--That's especially the case since Hasty left the ball on the ground. I'd normally save this for the regular season, but since that might have cost him his job, let me use the A-material now:

This Week's Applicable Movie Quote: "Don't be hasty, Master Hobbits." - Treebeard, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 

--Defensively, the one to watch remains Gabe Jacas. And while this belongs in the School of Lazy Analysis, he was neither impressive nor did he ever look lost. He just … was. If he ever overpowered a blocker, I didn't see it. Nor did I ever see him losing the edge by biting on a play fake or what have you. And he did come in unblocked to force a throwaway. There is serious talk going around that Harold Landry might be DONE done. So Jacas simply being capable in his rookie season will be even more important than it was when they used a second rounder on him. 

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--Lastly on the defense, and to keep this from going any longer than it has, there was a casting call for depth defensive backs, and the auditioners included some names that should be familiar by now. Kobee Minor. Mike Brown. John Saunders. Kindle Vildor. And rookie fifth Karon Prunty. Vildor in particular stood out, with a good open field tackle to keep the receiver short of the line to gain, and passes defended on consecutive pass attempts. I'll be stunned in he's not in the mix as a depth guy. 

--Let's end with this. Because how do you not root for this guy?