10 players/positions to watch Thursday night

If I had to ballpark it, I’d say there are going to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 165 guys getting snaps Thursday night in the Patriots-Jaguars game. Based on what I’ve seen to this point in camp, if you’re a New England fan, I’ve narrowed the list of players (which include a couple of positions) worth keeping an eye on down to 10. You’re welcome.


DL Deatrich Wise: The rookie out of Arkansas has been dynamite as a pass rusher and general disruptor of opposing offensive lines over the first two weeks. But how will he do in what will amount to a reasonable facsimile of the real thing? Given the fact that he’s lined up at multiple spots over the course of the summer, it’ll also be interesting to see how the Patriots deploy him against the Jags. One other thing to watch: He still looks a bit … frantic … when he’s asked to drop into coverage. Not quite Chandler Jones-esque, but it’s clear that’s one of the things that still needs to work on before he’s a finished product.

DL Kony Ealy: Some guys play better when the lights go on than in practice. (Hey there, Jimmy.) Ealy has been underwhelming in his first two weeks of camp in New England, but can win over some of his doubters if he comes out and flashes positively against Jacksonville. He’s certainly getting more than his share of opportunities to land a gig here in New England at defensive end — expect him to get plenty of reps in preseason action.

CB Cyrus Jones: It’s been a long offseason for Jones, who desperately wants to make amends for how things ended for him in 2016. To this point, he’s working into the rotation in the race for the third cornerback job (he took over for Stephon Gilmore on the outside the other day when Gilmore was tossed for fighting with Julian Edelman and did well), and should get more of a chance Thursday against Jacksonville. Gaining a measure of redemption at corner is only one part of the equation, however. If he can start stacking success as a returner and regain some of that confidence he lost last year, he’ll take a big step back to where he needs to be.

Linebacker: There’s still so much we don’t know about New England’s linebacker position, and that much is clear in the rotation we’ve witnessed over the first two weeks of camp. Does David Harris have enough left in the tank to hold up over a full 16-game season? Is Shea McClellin ready to be shuffled around again for the umpteenth time in his professional career? Is Kyle Van Noy at a place in his development where he can be an off-the-ball linebacker consistently enough where they can stick him next to Dont’a Hightower on a regular basis? Can Elandon Roberts work in coverage at all? Is Harvey Longi the second coming of Tully Banta-Cain? Which one of these guys will serve as the best complement to Hightower? Here’s hoping Thursday will provide some of the answers.

Running back: We haven’t seen Mike Gillislee for a few days, and after a strong start, Rex Burkhead has slipped off the radar screen as well as of late. (Given the fact they weren’t on the field for Wednesday’s walkthrough either, it would be a surprise to see them Thursday against the Jags.) That leaves us with James White, Dion Lewis and Brandon Bolden and a bunch of youngsters. Given the way reps have been handed out so far and situations that still need to be addressed, this should provide another opportunity for Bolden to get substantial between-the-tackles chances. Bolden has performed well in the reps he’s been given the last few days, and could be in for a healthy workload against Jacksonville. (At the very least, it’ll give us a chance to remind you that Bolden has been around since 2012, which is a lifetime when you’re talking about longevity among New England players.) One other youngster who has surprised? LeShun Daniels. He hasn’t played well enough to land a spot on the 53-man roster, but a good preseason could mean a spot on the practice squad.

QB Jimmy Garoppolo: Jimmy is always must-see TV in the preseason. We already know that the youngster does better in games than he does in practice, but if he plays well against Jacksonville, it would represent the continuation of a positive trend for Garoppolo, who looked sharper in the joint sessions against the Jaguars. Keep it rolling — even if he won’t have much of chance to throw to the veterans — and it’ll be a step in the right direction.

QB Jacoby Brissett: Some of the same stuff I said about Garoppolo applies here. But the bottom line is that Brissett has been squeezed out when it comes to reps over the last week or so — he didn’t get any chances of consequence the second day of work against the Jaguars — and so this will be a much-needed opportunity to simply see the field.

OL Ted Karras: Karras has had a really good summer. I’m not sure I’m ready to anoint him as a worthy challenger to David Andrews like my colleague Greg, but he’s certainly performed well enough to say that he’s the leader in the clubhouse when it comes to the jack-of-all-trades role that Dante Scarnecchia loves so very much. I want to see how much he plays at center (presumably in relief of Andrews) and how much he’s at guard (and which guard spot). Ultimately, we should get a real sense of where he is in the pecking order in the next week-plus, starting Thursday against Jacksonville.

Left tackle: Given his on-again, off-again attendance over the last week, it’d be a shock if we see Nate Solder against the Jaguars. That means in the early going it should be a steady rotation at left tackle of Cameron Fleming and La Adrian Waddle, neither of whom have played well to this point in camp. At this point, these two are staging the least compelling roster battle of the spring — the race for backup swing tackle. Honestly, if neither one of them start to pick it up, it could open the door for the likes of rookie Tony Garcia to get a shot. Garcia probably isn’t ready for prime time yet, but there aren’t a lot of other possibilities for New England at this stage of the summer.

WR Devin Lucien: One of our favorite guys to this point in the summer, Lucien has claimed the favored role of “Likeable Roster Underdog.” Whether the passes have been from Tom Brady, Garoppolo or Brissett, he’s managed to catch just about everything tossed in his direction. Cracking that group of wide receivers is just about the longest of shots, but Lucien has at least put himself into the conversation when it comes to landing a roster spot. Now, the delicate dance begins: if he plays too effectively in the preseason, he won’t make it through the waiver process necessary to land a practice squad spot. And I’m not stretching it to suggest that if he was cut tomorrow and picked up by the Jets, he could catch 35 balls in New York. Basically, his play so far has given the coaching staff a few reasons to reassess some other areas of the depth chart.