For the second time in two preseason contests this summer, the New England Patriots decided to rest their starters against the Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday night. This, in turn, gave the depth players on the team another opportunity to showcase themselves in a game setting.
Not all of them were up to the task, but the Patriots did get some positive contributions from players who may have flown under the radar in training camp. Speaking to reporters on Monday, head coach Mike Vrabel highlighted
five of those: wide receivers Efton Chism and Kyle Dixon, offensive tackle Dametrious Crownover, defensive tackle Leonard Taylor, and cornerback Kindle Vildor.
“Kindle, obviously, had some very competitive snaps,” Vrabel said about the veteran defender. “Crownover, I thought, played well and tried to finish, and tried to use his length in pass protection. I thought Lenny T played well and factored and showed up.
“Offensively, even just down the line, I thought Chizz did a great job when the ball found him making the plays, but also his ability to go and block force and finish. Kyle Dixon hadn’t been out there for a while. A guy that’s relatively new to the receiver position. That was really cool to see him show up in some big moments. We’re throwing the ball to Kyle Dixon — he was a baseball player not too long ago — on fourth down and he’s making a play. And then he’s trying to find the right guys to block in the run game. Those were all really interesting things.”
Out of those five players, four appear to have at least somewhat realistic shots at making the 53-man roster come next week’s cutdown deadline.
Vildor is competing for the fifth cornerback spot and showed some promising play over the last week-plus; Crownover would probably have projected more as a practice squad option, but might benefit from fellow backup tackle Marcus Bryant leaving the Eagles game with an injury in the first quarter; Taylor is in the mix for a rotational spot behind starting interior D-linemen Milton Williams and Christian Barmore; Efton Chism is fighting for the last spot in a deep wide receiver room.
That very same room, meanwhile, will likely not feature Dixon. Despite his efforts and catching two passes for 10 yards against Philadelphia, the depth ahead of him at the position is likely to prevent him from earning a spot on the active roster come the start of the regular season.
He and the rest of the players pointed out by Vrabel, as well as their other teammates, will get more chances to prove themselves this week. The Patriots will practice two times before their preseason finale in Cleveland on Thursday.
