Although Jacksonville took the 31-24 victory in the first preseason matchup for either squad, New England had some positives coming out of today’s game, including a great quarterback performance from both #10 and #7 along with lots of rookie potential.
Backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo put on a solid performance today, racking up 22 completions on 28 attempts for 235 yards and two touchdowns. The first of Garoppolo’s pair of scores went to rookie wideout from Northwestern Austin Carr, who many believed to of been drafted but fell out of the seven rounds, caught 5 passes for 44 yards. KJ Maye, playing in his “first” recorded season in the NFL, was the second touchdown of Garoppolo’s performance, along with snagging 6 balls for 34 yards. The most yardage from any Patriot receiver belongs to rookie from Wyoming Jacob Hollister, who collected 116 yards on seven receptions.
In the running game, rookie back LeShun Daniels Jr took the most carries (11) for 39 yards while several other running backs (Bolden, Lewis, Foster) got their respected reps out on the field as well. Compared to the emergence of Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette, New England does not have the star studded running back corps, but they get the job done and have been doing so every day. Today specifically, Jaguars running back Corey Grant exploded for 120 yards and a score on eight carries, giving the New England defense trouble.
Special teams was especially solid for second-year speedster Cyrus Jones out of Alabama, racking up 117 kickoff yards on 6 kicks. Jones, who is competing for a cornerback job, has the elusive edge in the return game compared to his fellow cornerback hopefuls.
I wish I could say Jones played just as well on defense but that would be far from the truth. Jones was burned on two separate occasions both plays ending with a Jacksonville touchdown. The first touchdown being a Keelan Cole 97 yard touchdown from Chad Henne and the second being Dede Westbrook 42 yard touchdown from Brandon Allen.
It was not a great defensive game from Jones who declined to talk to the media after the game.
The defense you could say lacked, but having the nonstarters adjust to the NFL speed and rookies familiarizing themselves with the NFL climate, it’s all a learning curve.
New England you can say allowed Jacksonville to score 31 points, but the purpose is to let other players showcase their skills and adjust to the NFL level of play. Everyone did their job and performed well.
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