For the first time since their Divisional Round win over the Houston Texans 207 days ago, the New England Patriots were back in action at Gillette Stadium, taking on the Indianapolis Colts in the first of their three scheduled preseason games (8/22 vs. Eagles, 8/27 @ Browns).
As expected for a team that retained essentially its entire coaching staff and is coming off a Super Bowl run, the Patriots held out their starters.
Still, there was plenty to unpack from New England's 13-13 tie (yes, tie) with Indianapolis.
Here are nine takeaways from the Patriots' preseason opener:
1.) No sign of Christian Gonzalez
Although the starters did not play, they were dressed for pregame warmups. That included Drake Maye, A.J. Brown, Milton Williams and several other key players.
There was, however, one notable absence.
Christian Gonzalez, who had been a full participant throughout training camp until Tuesday's joint practice, was not in uniform for pregame warmups.
Among the other players not dressed were Christian Barmore, Christian Elliss, Charles Woods, Julian Ashby, Harold Landry (PUP), Brenden Schooler and Kyle Dixon.
Gonzalez landed hard while covering Romeo Doubs during Monday's practice, so perhaps his absence was related to that. Mike Vrabel indicated after the game that Gonzalez was simply physically unavailable, grouping him with several other players who were held out for treatment.
“Christian was unavailable, physically unavailable for the practice. That's the clarification. Just like other players that I told to have treatment, and everybody has a plan here, there were other guys that were in that same category,” Vrabel said. “If you want to list the names, Christian Elliss, Brenden Schooler, Harold Landry, Christian Barmore, et cetera. So make sure they're all included. They were all in the same group of what they did.”
Of course, Gonzalez's ongoing contract negotiations remain something to monitor, too.
2.) Checking in on the wide receivers
The wide receiver room has been one of the biggest storylines throughout training camp.
After trading for A.J. Brown and signing Romeo Doubs in free agency, the Patriots suddenly have one of their deepest wide receiver rooms in years. Brown and Doubs join a group that already included DeMario “Pop” Douglas, Kayshon Boutte, Kyle Williams, Mack Hollins and Efton Chism III, giving seven receivers a legitimate case to make the initial 53-man roster despite teams typically only carrying five or six.
Brown, Doubs and Douglas, who have consistently worked as the starting three-receiver group throughout camp, had the night off in the preseason opener.
Boutte, Williams, Hollins, and Chism all played.
Hollins and Boutte played the majority of the first quarter. Hollins, who was slow to get on the same page with quarterback Tommy DeVito early on, finished with two catches on four targets for 24 yards and also drew an 11-yard pass interference penalty. Boutte was not targeted.
Williams and Chism played into the second quarter.
After a slow start, Williams heated up in the second quarter, hauling in two of his three targets for 37 yards and a touchdown. His lone incompletion came on an underthrown deep ball from DeVito, with Williams having a step on Colts cornerback Johnathan Edwards.
Williams had his way with Edwards, who played 14 games (five starts) for the Colts last season. He beat him with a quick release off the line to haul in a 12-yard touchdown on an outside fade. On the following drive, Williams stopped on a dime and shook free on a curl, picking up 25 yards after the catch.
Chism finished with three receptions on three targets for 20 yards.
Both receivers also committed a penalty, with Williams flagged for offensive pass interference and Chism called for an illegal block.
3.) Ben Brown left the game
Interior lineman Ben Brown, who started the game at center, left with an injury in the second quarter.
Brown, who has appeared in 27 games (14 starts) for the Patriots over the last two seasons, was slow to get up before walking off the field under his own power with trainers. He entered the blue medical tent before heading to the locker room.
“We'll evaluate, hopefully know more in the morning,” Vrabel said. “I don't think it's anything too serious, but I also don't want to speculate until we're able to do some more tests.
Losing Brown would be a bigger deal than it may seem for the Patriots, who are thin on the interior.
New England's other interior linemen are Andrew Rupcich, James Hudson, Jake Rizy, Mehki Butler and JonDarius Morgan. Rizy replaced Brown, while Rupcich and Hudson started alongside him. A very inexperienced group
Rupcich was also shaken up early in the fourth quarter and was checked out in the blue medical tent after walking off under his own power. He remained on the sideline following further evaluation.
The Patriots can afford to be cautious with Brown in the preseason, but his status is worth watching given the lack of depth along the interior offensive line.
4.) Caleb Lomu had an up-and-down night
Rookie first-round pick Caleb Lomu, the 28th overall selection in the 2026 NFL Draft, got the start at right tackle and played the entire first half.
Lomu, who allowed just eight pressures and zero sacks across 357 pass-blocking snaps last season at Utah while earning First-Team All-Big 12 honors, had an up-and-down night.
He was beaten in pass protection a few times, gave up a run stuff, and was called for an ineligible man downfield penalty that negated a 24-yard pickup on a bootleg pass to Eli Rairdon.
The 21-year-old spent much of his night battling Colts defensive end Micheal Clemons, who spent the last four seasons with the Jets and has played in 65 games, including 14 starts.
Lomu got the better of the veteran on a few reps and also looked strong in blitz pickup.
Perhaps most encouraging from Lomu’s night was that the Patriots ran behind him on both of their fourth-down attempts, picking up both.
5.) Gabe Jacas also had an up-and-down night
Like Lomu, second-round pick Gabe Jacas had his ups and downs throughout the night.
The edge rusher, whom the Patriots traded up to select out of Illinois with the 55th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, played the entire first half and finished with four tackles, including three solo stops.
Jacas did a good job generating pressure by pushing the pocket, highlighted by a play in which he drove Colts right tackle Jalen Travis into quarterback Anthony Richardson and helped force an interception by Kindle Vildor. He also did a nice job setting the edge.
At times, though, Jacas was too aggressive in his pursuit upfield, creating running lanes. He also struggled to read the read option with Richardson and the Colts' running backs, allowing two big gains.
The intensity and motor were obvious. The mistakes are coachable.
It's also worth noting that two of Jacas' tackles came on special teams, an area of the game he has been working closely on with Vrabel.
“I challenged him on a kickoff, and he made a tackle. I didn't think that his efforts were maybe good enough on the kickoff. I didn't expect that the guy that was blocking him to be able to block him, and then I challenged him, and he came up with a tackle on the kickoff,” Vrabel said after the game. “So that was a positive, and then we'll just keep coaching him just like the rest of the guys.
6.) Eli Raridon flashed as both a blocking and receiving threat
Although Raridon finished with just one reception for eight yards, the third-round pick out of Notre Dame showed flashes as both a pass catcher and blocker.
He did a good job getting open, highlighted by the aforementioned bootleg that picked up 24 yards before being wiped out by an illegal man downfield penalty.
He also had some strong blocks in the run game after making a couple of impressive blocks during Tuesday's joint practice.
Rairdon has seen more first-team reps as of late, and it's been deserved.
7.) The Patriots were forcing turnovers
Along the walls in the team’s film room, Mike Vrabel’s team identity is painted on the walls. It reads:
1. Effort & finish
2. Ball security & Ball disruption
3. Details, technique & fundamentals
4. Make great decisions
They certainly checked the box of number two.
The Patriots forced turnovers on four of the Colts’ 12 drives (two interceptions, two fumbles), while not having any turnovers of their own.
“The turnovers are great, and I love us attacking the football and taking advantage of that. Just a lot of things to clean up, but when you talk about the ability to create turnovers, it can change the game,” said Vrabel. “Just try to defend every blade of grass down there on the goal line, and come up with a big turnover there.”
Among the defensive standouts were cornerback Kindle Vildor, who intercepted Richardson, linebacker K.J. Britt, who finished with three tackles, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble, and Bradyn Swinson, who recorded three tackles, a QB hit and a pass deflection.
It was exactly the kind of night Vrabel wants to see from his defense when it comes to attacking the football.
8.) Checking in on the No.3 running back battle
The depth of the Patriots' running back room has changed significantly over the last 48 hours.
Terrell Jennings was placed on season-ending injured reserve, while injured rookie Myles Montgomery was waived. The Patriots then signed veteran running backs Hassan Haskins and JaMycal Hasty.
Jennings had appeared to be the favorite to win the Patriots' No. 3 running back job behind Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson, leaving the competition wide open between Jam Miller, Lan Larison, Haskins and Hasty.
None of the four particularly shined, but Miller had a slight edge.
The rookie seventh-round pick carried the ball 14 times for 55 yards, with a long of 15 yards midway through the second quarter. Larison had seven carries for one yard, but he also had a team-high six receptions for 38 yards, with a long of 13.
Despite not yet practicing with the team, Haskins had five carries for 15 yards, while Hasty had five carries for 11 yards.
“It was good to see Jam come out and have some nice runs,” Vrabel said. “I felt like he ran with his pads down and had a couple physical runs, and was happy for him. This is a great evaluation. We can start to figure out guys that can and start to figure out guys that can't too.”
The competition for that third running back spot will be something to monitor as camp rolls on.
9.) Andy Borregales had a brutal night
Speaking of competitions, Andy Borregales may have created one the Patriots didn't know they had.
Coming off a rookie season in which he converted 27 of his 32 field-goal attempts (84.4%) and 53 of his 55 extra-point attempts (96.4%), the Patriots entered camp with Borregales as the only kicker on the roster.
That may have to be reconsidered.
Borregales missed three of his five field-goal attempts, all wide left. He missed from 56 yards in the first quarter, 55 yards in the third quarter and 49 yards in the fourth quarter. He made kicks from 40 and 52 yards.
“I don't have a message. We're expected to make them. That's pro football,” Vrabel said. “They're banging them in from 60 yards. They got two kickers on the roster, so Andy knows that we have to make those field goals.”
The final miss, from 49 yards, came with 13 seconds left and would have given the Patriots the lead in the final seconds.
While acknowledging that conversations may need to be had, Vrabel expressed confidence in his 23-year-old kicker.
“I'm sure we'll talk about it and see where we're at. I'm not going to make any decision tonight. But again, we're going to have misses. We're going to have mistakes,” Vrabel said.
“In everything we do, we just need to be able to come back. We need to be able to bounce back, and we need to be able to answer. Guys are going to drop a pass. Guys are going to miss a block. We're going to miss a kick. But you just have to not let those things pile up, and Andy's been really good with that, and I would anticipate him getting back to work and really starting to focus, and maybe it was a footwork thing or trying to overswing. But I have confidence in Andy. I just, you want to be able to make those, and I think we got in a position to win the football game, and you want to be able to make them.”
