Everything you need to know from the Patriots’ preseason loss to the Titans in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:
HEADLINES
Well, glad that's over: The entire New England preseason, save for a few drives against the Packers, was largely meaningless. Didn't play anyone in this one. Bailey Zappe played well into the second half behind a horrible line as the offense totaled 79 yards on their 42 plays, and just 24 passing yards.
The defense allowed 368 total yards and 20 first downs.
Now, to be fair, the Titans played their starters on both sides for a little bit. But this was rough.
Zappe was sacked four times (six for Patriots total) and he fumbled three times (two recovered).
All the starters sit: This is the official list of Did Not Play from the NFL —
Injured: CB 7 I. Bolden, WR 11 T. Thornton, DE 58 T. Flowers, OL 66 K. Russey, OL 69 C.Strange, OL 71 M.Onwenu, OL 75 C.McDermott, OL 76 C.Anderson, DE 99 K.White
Offense
WR 1 D.Parker
WR 7 J.Smith-Schuster
QB 10 M.Jones
WR 14 T.Montgomery
RB 15 E.Elliott
RB 37 C.Marable
RB 38 R.Stevenson
C 60 D.Andrews
OL 68 A.Mafi
OL 77 T.Brown
WR 81 D.Douglas
WR 84 K.Bourne
TE 85 H.Henry
TE 88 M.Gesicki
Defense
DB 2 J.Mills
DB 5 J.Peppers
LB 8 J.Bentley
LB 9 M.Judon
CB 19 C.Gonzalez
DB 21 A.Phillips
DB 23 K.Dugger
DB 25 Ma.Jones,
DB 27 M.Bryant
DB 31 Jo.Jones
LB 48 Ja.Tavai
DL 91 D.Wise
DL 92 D.Godchaux,
DL 93 L.Guy
Special teams: K 6 N.Folk, WR 18 M.Slater, DB 22 C.Davis, DB 41 B.Schooler, LB 45 C.Board,
Christian Gonzalez warms up, Jack Jones plays a ton: The rookie cornerback was last seen leaving practice with an ankle injury. That he warmed up before this game was a great sign.
Jack Jones played a lot of snaps in this game — well into the second half. That's pretty interesting. Not sure what to make of it.
SECOND GUESS
A lot of starters played around the league. Are we sure the Patriots' first-teamers couldn't use a few snaps against the Titans' starters? Wouldn't take Bill Belichick long on a phone call to Mike Vrabel to hear what his plan was for this one.
FOUR UP
DE Sam Roberts: Finished a strong preseason with seven tackles, 1 sack, 3 QB hits and 2 TFL. He hustled his ass off with many plays down the field.
LB Calvin Munson: Helped his push for a roster spot with a team-leading 10 tackles and an interception.
Both punters: Bryce Baringer averaged 49.2 on five punts with two inside the 20 (and one touchback). Hangtimes were really good. Corliss Waitman averaged 50 yards with hang times over 4.8 seconds on two punts.
DE Ronnie Perkins: The former third-round pick got his first playing time of the preseason and was active with nine tackles, a TFL and QB hit.
THREE DOWN
OT Andrew Stueber: Seemed to be in the middle of a lot of sacks and pressures in this game.
OG Chasen Hines: He straight up whiffed on one of his blocks.
QB Bailey Zappe: He fumbled three times. That just can't happen.
TOP PLAYS
Joe Giles-Harris with the PICK!!#NEvsTEN | #ForeverNE
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) August 26, 2023
📺: @wbzsports pic.twitter.com/c27MWOyvlo
Handoff to Harris ‼️
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) August 26, 2023
📺: @wbzsports pic.twitter.com/TmkFn3PaLS
Munson with that grab!!
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) August 26, 2023
📺: @wbzsports pic.twitter.com/gh8apO8355
INJURIES
OL Riley Reiff: Looked to suffer a right knee injury and walked off under his own power.
LB Diego Fagot: Suffered a stinger but stayed in and was gutting it out.
TWO TAKES BEDARD WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
Don't overreact on Zappe: Look, he played with terrible players who won't be in the league for very long. Ball security was not good, but he's still a solid backup when pressed into service. I'm not worried about him.
Adrian Klemm has a lot of work to do: This, hopefully, won't be the line that starts against a great Eagles defensive line in the season opener. But the first-year Patriots line coach has his work cut out for him considering that Trent Brown, Cole Strange, David Andrews and Mike Onwenu — and whatever they are going to do at right tackle — have zero practices together at this point, let alone full-speed reps.
If the Patriots' line holds up well against the Eagles, it will be the biggest upset around here since the 2001 Super Bowl.