6 takeaways from the Patriots’ preseason finale – 98.5 The Sports Hub

The New England Patriots wrapped up their preseason on Thursday night taking on the New York Giants. The Patriots fell 42-10 to finish the preseason 2-1.

Most Patriots starters got the night off, after playing in the first two preseason games. That made this game an opportunity for players on the Patriots’ bubble to make one last case for the roster before roster cuts on Tuesday.

Which players helped themselves the most? Which spots look like they could need an external addition? Let’s take a look with our final takeaways of the preseason.

With this game in the books, the next step for the Patriots will be trimming the roster down to 53 players by Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET. However, that process may not be as simple as making 37 cuts, with Mike Vrabel suggesting after the game external additions are being considered. That’s where he went when asked his feeling on the current state of the roster coming out of the preseason.

“We’re going to continually try to strengthen the roster every way we can,’ Vrabel replied. “There’s a couple options, right? You can try to trade for players. You could try to claim some players next week. We’re always going to be trying to strengthen the roster. That’s what we’ll try to do here over the course of the next 10 days.”

While the Patriots went with mostly backups, a few defensive starters or other notable names did play various roles in this game. Jabrill Peppers and Keion White both started and played multiple series. After the game, Mike Vrabel said he wanted to see how Peppers played with rookie safety Craig Woodson, noting that Peppers has played different roles throughout the summer. As for White, he said he wanted to see White “work on some things.”

Kyle Dugger also played late into another preseason game. That included his second interception of the preseason, when Jameis Winston sailed a fourth down pass in his area in the end zone. Vrabel complimented the progress Dugger has made this summer after the game. Was the strong performance enough to save his roster spot? We’ll find out soon enough.

Among those not playing in this game was center Garrett Bradbury. That’s another sign he’s locked in as the starter for Week 1.

This week in practice, Jared Wilson and Ben Brown rotated at left guard suggesting a position battle there. To open the game, Wilson started the game at left guard and Brown at center. They both got a couple of series in those spots, before being replaced. They did not switch spots. Sidy Sow started at right guard – he’s continued to play a bigger role as the summer has gone on but the question is whether or not it will be enough to land a roster spot. He’s a square bubble player.

When Wilson and Brown came out, they were replaced by Caedan Wallace and Cole Strange respectively. Both of those players also look to be in the mix for a depth offensive line spot. Strange had a high snap in this game, after having two bad snaps during practice this week.

Playing mostly their backup defensive linemen, the Patriots struggled to stop the Giants’ run game. New York ran the ball 24 times, averaging 4.6 yards per carry. They didn’t have one run that was stopped in the backfield.

That doesn’t bode well for the defensive tackles trying to claim the one or two spots that appear to be open at that position on the Patriots’ roster. That group includes Kyle Peko and Jahvaree Ritzie. This could be a spot the Patriots look to make an external addition.

Coming into the final game it felt like multiple cornerbacks were gaining momentum towards winning a sixth spot at that position on the roster. Jordan Polk, Miles Battle, and Kobee Minor all had a strong week of practice, with Polk and Battle coming off of good showings in Minnesota.

However, none of the three following it up with an encouraging game on Thursday night. According to PFF’s initial charting Polk gave up five catches on seven targets, Minor gave up four catches on six targets, and Battle two catches on three targets. Both Minor and Battle allowed touchdowns.

All three still have a case to make the practice squad. Right now though they all appear to be on the outside looking in at a spot on the 53.

For the second week in a row, the kicker workload favored rookie Andy Borregales after he and Parker Romo had split reps evenly for most of the summer. In fact Borregales was the only kicker used by the Patriots on Thursday night. He attempted both field goals, an extra point, and handled all of the kickoff duties.

That being said Borregales had another missed field goal, pushing a kick just wide right from 49 yards out. He recovered with a 30-yarder on his next kick.

Borregales looks like the leader in the kicking competition but Romo has a case for having the better summer – especially after Borregales’ latest miss. Will Borregales’ draft pick status prove to be an edge?