Tom Brady may have watched Thursday night's preseason opener in Detroit from the sidelines, but that didn't mean the Patriots passing game had the night off.
Veteran backup Brian Hoyer led a pair of early scoring drives, spreading the ball to a variety of targets, and rookie Jarrett Stidham picked things up from there as the Patriots rolled to the 31-3 victory over the Lions.
It wasn't Brady and it wasn't a real, competitive game against the lackluster Lions, but a New England passing attack that faces plenty of questions this summer and has struggled on the practice field was impressive in its first live action work of August. Defensively the Patriots piled up the sacks – 9 – against the overmatched Detroit squad.
Led by a number of contributors in the passing game, here are some of the personnel highs and lows from the Patriots preseason opener.
Thumbs up
N'Keal Harry – The rookie wide receiver was impressive early on, making a pair of pretty catches. The first showed strong hands on a comeback just past the sticks. The second came on a nice back shoulder throw on the left sideline, high-pointing the ball for 25 yards. Harry's hands were inconsistent early in camp, but they were quite solid in the preseason opener in Detroit.
Brian Hoyer – While some have wondered if rookie Jarrett Stidham might possibly push Hoyer off the roster, maybe the fourth-round pick has pushed the veteran backup to pick up his game. Hoyer was tremendous in the first half against the Lions, completing his final nine passes on the way to a 12-of-14 effort for 147 yards with two touchdowns for a 150.0 passer rating. It may have been as good as Hoyer has ever looked in a Patriots uniform.
Braxton Berrios/Jakobi Meyers/Maurice Harris/Dontrelle Inman – The entire group of receivers battling for roles and roster spots seemed to show up in a positive way. Harris capped second drive of the game with a pretty, one-handed 14-yard touchdown against tight coverage out of the slot. The veteran newcomer had a couple other chances for touchdowns later, but finished with three catches for 27 yards. The undrafted rookie Meyers had six catches on eight targets for 69 yards. Berrios returned punts – 8.8 avg. on four returns with a long of 14 – while also catching all three balls thrown his way for 45 yards. Inman even got into the act in the second half, catching both passes thrown his way for 23 yards, coming up just short of a stretching touchdown at the goal line.
Jamie Collins/Ja'Whaun Bentley – Not many potential key top contributors played, but the two linebackers showed early flashes of the versatile athleticism they bring to the New England defensive front. The duo got to Lions backup passer Tom Savage for consecutive sacks in the first quarter, knocking the journeyman out of the game. It was just a small sample of the variety of things the two can add to a strong linebacking corps that already includes Kyle Van Noy and Dont'a Hightower. And the sacks were two of the six recorded by the New England defense in the first half while holding the Lions to just 28 total yards and minus-2 yards through the air at the break.
Thumbs down
N'Keal Harry – A couple days after failing to finish joint practice with the Lions with an apparent hamstring injury, Harry limped off following his second catch in Detroit. He went to the medical tent and did not return to the game. The rookie has appeared to deal with a variety of bumps and nicks –hip, shoulder, leg – in his short stint of practice action in New England. Hamstring injuries can be tough to deal with and really derail a young receiver's acclimation to the NFL, so this is an issue worth watching moving forward.
Duke Dawson – The 2018 second-round pick is in a battle to win a role in the deep, talented Patriots secondary. Early in the opener he was beaten badly by Brandon Powell on a crossing route for a 24-yard gain on third-and-8. Dawson also had a penalty to help wipe out a nice Berrios' return and another holding call in the back end later in the game. Dawson has a lot to prove if he's going to unseat Jonathan Jones or show his value in the back end.
Penalties – Sure it's the preseason. Sure there were a lot of different bodies running on and off in all three phases. Bill Belichick couldn't have been happy to see all the flags thrown against his team, including multiple plays in the first half with multiple infractions against New England. Joejuan Williams had a particularly silly unnecessary roughness call on a late tackle out of bounds in the third quarter, just one of the 12 flags for 135 yards (not including those that were declined) on the Patriots on the night.
Stephen Gostkowski – Punter Ryan Allen, not Gostkowski, has competition this summer. After re-signing as a free agent this offseason the veteran kicker missed a 37-yard field goal to open his preseason work. It's just one kick in a meaningless game, but it's not an ideal way to start the year. Adding insult to missed-kick misery, Gostkowski played the game in jersey with his name misspelled on the back, missing the middle "k."
