The New England Patriots continued their preseason Saturday night at Gillette Stadium with a 24-21 win over the Philadelphia Eagles
.Here is who caught our eye for better or worse upon live-viewing the Patriots’ preseason opener.
Winners
QB Behren Morton: Things looked much more comfortable for New England’s rookie quarterback in preseason game No. 2. Morton completed 13-of-17 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown as he led the offense down the field to score the game winning 37-yard touchdown by finding Nick
DeGennaro down the right sideline.
With punter Bryce Baringer also not feeling great after his first two punts, Morton, a former high school punter, handled those duties.
WRs Efton Chism III and Kyle Williams: New England’s second-year wide receiver duo showed their potential as they played throughout the first half. As usual, Chism remained a reliable target underneath and over the middle of the field hauling in all four of his targets for 45 yards — including a 24-yard completion on third-down on a Josh McDaniels staple. Williams’ night was more volatile as he caught just 2-of-6 targets and potentially could have fought harder over the middle of the field. But the speedster made his mark, as he beat Ambry Thomas off the line of scrimmage on a go ball to haul in a 69-yard touchdown.
DBs Kindle Vildor and John Saunders Jr.: The Patriots continue to look for cornerback depth behind Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis. With Charles Woods sitting with the regulars, Kindle Vildor made his mark Saturday night. The veteran had an interception called back due to a roughing the passer penalty but rebounded by forcing an incompletion then driving downfield to break up a third-down pass.
As for Saunders, the safety continued his strong summer. Saunders was on scene to shut down several of Philadelphia’s play-action bootleg concepts and recorded a pass breakup in coverage on second-round rookie tight end Eli Stowers. Saunders play style fits nicely into this defense and the 24-year old is seriously pushing for a roster spot.
RB Lan Larison: As the battle for a third running behind Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson continues, Lan Larison made sure to keep his name in the mix with a strong performance. Larison totaled 33 yards on nine carries while finding the end zone and also added 41 yards on three catches.
“I felt like Lan certainly had a good performance, a gritty, tough performance tonight, and did some really good things,” Vrabel said.
Losers
OG James Hudson III: The Patriots backup offensive line continued to struggle Saturday night. That was led by another tough performance by James Hudson, who recently moved inside to guard, as he allowed a sack and additional pressure while generating two holding penalties on the opening drive.
LB Chad Muma: After a rough preseason opener, Muma’s struggles continued on Saturday as the linebacker missed a pair of tackles in the first half. Muma, who suffered an injury last week, later spent time in the blue medical tent before going on to play the whole second half until needing to leave the field again due to injury in the final minute. Linebacker depth is a concern right now as the Patriots also lost Khalil Jacobs Saturday night.
Honorable mentions
- Tommy DeVito had some accuracy issues again but delivered a beautiful touchdown ball to Kyle Williams and made several plays with his legs.
- UDFA Nick DeGennaro hauled in the game-winning touchdown in the final minute. Making the roster at wide receiver is a no-win situation, but DeGennaro looks primed for a practice squad spot.
- JaMycal Hasty lost a fumble.
- Preseason game No. 2 seemed to draw better results for Caleb Lomu in live action. Lomu played 57 snaps at left tackle and gave up one sack failing to pickup a stunt. He seemed to struggle at times in the run game, but the athletic ability is seen in 1-on-1 pass pro situations.
- Gabe Jacas registered a QB hit as an unblocked rusher off the edge on a zero blitz. He did get flagged for a roughing the passer penalty on a similar play that negated a potential interception.
- Strong rush and strip sack to ice the game by rookie pass rusher Q Hutchins.
- Namdi Obiazor recorded an impressive pass breakup on fourth-down in the end zone playing the hands of an Eagles’ pass catcher.
- Andy Borregales rebounded after a poor preseason debut by making all four of his kicks (one field goal, 41 yards, three extra points).
- Borregales’ bounce-back came with Julian Ashby back at long snapper. Ashby, who missed last week with an injury, also logged two tackles on kick coverage.
