After a shaky start for Maye and the top offense, New England’s starters settled down on their next possession. On possibly his cleanest drop-back so far this preseason, Maye connected with WR Mack Hollins for a 20-yard gain on third down. With the Vikings dropping into zone coverage with a four-man rush, Maye does well to stay patient and remain a passer behind initially solid protection, buying enough time for Hollins to uncover along the sideline. The three downfield routes and chip-releases by the back and tight end figure to be a prominent play design for OC Josh McDaniels on third down this season to help the offensive line.
The Patriots starting quarterback is still striving for a perfect start, but Maye settled down on his second drive and showed solid pocket presence.
3. Patriots “Searching” for Their Starting Five Along the Offensive Line
According to the game broadcast, Vrabel told Zo and the McCourty twins that the Patriots are still tinkering with their starting five along the offensive line. In Thursday’s joint practice in Minnesota, the Pats elevated C/G Ben Brown to the top left guard spot in place of rookie Jared Wilson. Initially, whether that was a coach’s decision or an injury situation was unclear. Based on the preseason game, where Brown started over Wilson, it appears that it was the former.
Starting OL: LT Campbell, LG Brown, C Bradbury, RG Onwenu, RT Bryant
Second-String OL: LT Bryant, LG Wilson, C Brown, RG Strange, RT Lowe
Third-String OL: LT Lowe, LG Wilson/Strange, C Strange/Wilson, RG Sow, RT Jacobs
Although it’s disappointing that Wilson might’ve gotten demoted, the third-rounder has shown flashes of high-end talent. The one-year collegiate starter is still only 22 years old and has a bright future. In the meantime, the Vikings were able to knock the interior offensive line back a few too many times while Maye was under center, with questions at left guard and center in that regard. On a positive note, rookie LT Will Campbell had nice frontside zone blocks on two positive runs, including Henderson’s touchdown, and was clean in pass protection.
As for Wilson, he repped at both left guard and center with the second-team offense. According to NextGen Stats, Wilson allowed one pressure while in the game. Another notable development was that rookie OT Marcus Bryant started at right tackle with veteran Morgan Moses sitting out the game, then repped at left tackle with the second unit. Bryant appears to be the top backup/swing tackle. Vederian Lowe, who is competing with Bryant, allowed three pressures at right tackle before flipping over to left tackle after halftime.
Whether it’s in the starting lineup or as top backups, Brown and Bryant appear to have the inside track, while the left guard spot still doesn’t feel settled with three weeks until Week 1.
4. What are the Futures for S Kyle Dugger and EDGE Anfernee Jennings?
At this point in the summer, it’s always notable when veteran players who were previously starters play late into the second half. For the Patriots, those players are S Kyle Dugger and edge rusher Anfernee Jennings.
Earlier this week, Vrabel suggested that Dugger’s fall down the depth chart was about mentally grasping the new defense scheme, while it’s also possible that the coaching staff views Dugger and starter Jabrill Peppers as redundant box safeties. Instead, Dugger has been repping behind more pure free safety-types like Jaylinn Hawkins and rookie Craig Woodson, who are more comfortable playing deep zones. Dugger getting playtime into the fourth quarter was noteworthy, while Dugger likely should’ve gone down immediately on his game-ending interception.
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