Random Observations from the Pats Final Preseason Game and What It Does to the Roster

Jerry Thornton9/01/2017 6:29 PM

Look at this throw by Jacoby Brissett. They’re not cutting this guy. pic.twitter.com/YwFdazlOAR
— Liam Martin (@LiamWBZ) September 1, 2017

This was my kinda fake football game. No core veterans in the game to worry about. No throwing up in your mouth every time Brady faces a pass rush or someone gets hit going over the middle. Just guys who need reps getting reps and fights for the last roster spots. Assistants calling the plays, just in case either of the coordinators gets taken captive by some foreign power. It’s what fauxball season should be all about. Belichick saying “Our depth chart is small. But there’s a lot of potential for … aggressive expansion” and snapping a pool cue in two.

So with the NFL scheduling the biggest mass layoff since the Great Depression tomorrow, here are my impressions from the game against the Giants, with an emphasis on how it’ll impact the roster:

–But I can’t not start with Jacoby Brissett. After he didn’t see the field in the third game, people were actually talking like his roster spot was in danger. As if the Pats would just go with the oldest quarterback in the league and a backup in the final year of his rookie deal who’s poised to make Kirk Cousins money. And to cut ties after one year with their third stringer they’ve been high on. It’s bizarre how in the great abstract argument that is evaluating your backup QBs, everyone in New England had convinced themselves that Jimmy G is the Rightful Heir to the Iron Throne and Brissett is The Bastard Child with No Claim. Well last night he showed why he came so recommended in last year’s draft. I stipulate that flat pass for the pick-6 was unforgivable. But the rest? What throw didn’t he make? Touch passes. Quick outlet throws. Upfield bullets where he got to step into the throw and drive the ball. A deep lob right into Devin Lucien’s belt buckle that was practically erotic. On his second touchdown, when Austin Carr ran a shallow out in front of off coverage, Brissett had the ball in the air prior to Carr’s break, making a perfect read. And that back corner touchdown to Lucien came on a blitz out of a 7-man line with a defender at his legs. And he delivered a middle-middle strike.

–More importantly, you have to respect Brissett’s command of the offense. The ability to run off sequences of plays. Hitting Carr on a downfield throw off a play action. The next play he delivers a high ball to James O’Shaughnessy who elevated for it. The very next play was an out route to Carr that set up Carr’s TD. Late in the game he ran the no huddle and was in control. Even with the depth chart’s bottom feeders around him, they seem to have Brissett running the whole playbook and doing it well. I’ve said repeatedly the Pats have the two best quarterbacks in the AFC East. It might be the three best.

–The numbers game on the offensive side of the ball is where the real drama will be tomorrow on Mass Unemployment Day 2017. Especially at the skill positions as they figure out a way to compensate for the loss of Julian Edelman. I’ve felt like James O’Shaughnessy was a lock to be the third tight end. I’d feel more certain if he got last night off instead of being in there fighting with the scrubs in the 4th quarter. But I think that was a strictly for the reps. He plays special teams. He blocks. And while I’ll avoid falling in love with him like I did during those wild days when I succumbed to Zach Sudfeldmania, he can give you 12-15 catches this year with Gronk drawing double teams.

–Running back is a much tougher call. Weeks ago I thought Brandon Bolden was living on borrowed time, what with his two carries last season and the addition of Rex Burkhead, who’s also a core-4 special teamer. But he didn’t play last night. Which tells me he’s secure. Though in his place, I thought DJ Foster nailed his audition. He caught the ball on check downs, caught it off wheel routes and in the flat. He was solid in blitz pick up. And has had plenty of chances returning kicks, a spot that is wide open now that Cyrus Jones went down. I can’t see them keeping both. But since it’s my job to guess I’m saying Bolden keeps that final spot.

–I’ve liked Carr from the jump. And I went from thinking he’d be a tough cut to thinking he’d take the last WR spot vacated by Edelman. But Lucien just seems to be a survivor. He managed to make it all the way through his rookie year after being a 7th round pick. And I wouldn’t be shocked if he has one of those Ross/Ray Ventrone careers where he just keeps coming back like a spider that won’t go down the drain. My money is on him making it through waivers and landing on the practice squad, with Carr making the roster.

–There is no topic you can discuss more dangerous than offensive line depth. Because it’s boring to the point of being potentially fatal. People talking about it while driving have been known to fall asleep at the wheel and even reading a sentence online can cause you to swallow your tongue and choke to death. So I’ll just say: “Ted Karras stays.” OK, now wake up.

–Geneo Grissom started camp with an expiration date stamped on his ass. But I think he managed to outlive it. Yes he faced the Giants backups backups, but it was his best showing in a Pats uniform. On back-to-back plays in the first he penetrated to disrupt and outside run and then got both his arms outside of Adam Bisnowaty to slip past him and sack Geno Smith. There was that one big run by Orleans Darkwa where the tight end stood Grissom right up and the play went outside him. But he bounced back later in the game to flush Josh Johnson out of the pocket more than once. Hopefully this is him making his coveted Year 2 Bounce in his Year 3. Otherwise he won’t have a Year 4. And I think he makes it, just because they are so scary thin on the edge.

–Two other defenders who will definitely make the club but still played a ton were Jonathan Freeny and Woodrow Hamilton. It seemed like Freeny was in there to practice wearing the green dot. And Hamilton was the best player on the defense. He shot his gap to blow up and inside run that resulted in a gang tackle. He pushed the pocket a few times. And showed enough sand in his pants against double teams that he could be a small part of a rotation-heavy front.

–It has to be an NFL first that twin brothers each caught touchdowns in the same game. But having it happen during fauxball is like a no-hitter in spring training or a hole-in-one in a practice round. You’d like to brag about it, but no one wants to hear it. Still, I’d like to see either Jacob or Cody Hollister make the team. Just for the potential of Belichick switching them off from week to week, The Parent Trap style. That way you get a two fresh bodies for one roster spot, and hilarity will ensue.

–The bad news for Cyrus Jones is that he’s probably done for the season. The good news is, that’s probably the best way to ensure he’ll be back next year. In his absence Kenny Moore II (what makes a “Jr.” become a “II” without him being a king or a pope, I have no idea) got a lot of looks. And while I’m impressed with how physical he is and how effective against the run, I was closer to most of the receivers he was covering than he was. I think the cornerback chart will go as deep as Justin Coleman and Jonathan Jones. [Author’s Note: Right after I wrote this, the Pats traded Coleman to Seattle. Like a Persian rug maker, I put one flaw in everything I do because only Allah is perfect.] And our dream of seeing more of Killings and Likely will die hard.