There’s plenty of intrigue with Thursday’s Patriots preseason opener against The Washington Football Team with perhaps the most being Patriots rookie quarterback Mac Jones.
The No. 15 overall pick has impressed in two weeks of training camp, but the intensity will pick up in a big way facing another team who can actually hit him — not to mention Washington has one of the better defensive lines in football.
So, how much will Jones play?
It seems likely Cam Newton will start and then based on how most training camp practices have gone, Jones figures to play some with the first unit and then stay in with the second unit. If that happens, perhaps he enters the game late in the first quarter or early in the second quarter and plays into the third quarter. Brian Hoyer would then come in to wrap things up.
Relating to Jones, it would make a ton of sense for the Patriots to get as much game film of him as possible so they can go over things and correct them before the next preseason game. It does not make sense to hold him back any in these games -- he needs all the reps he can get.
There is one draw back to playing Jones extensively Thursday, as it’s pretty much a no-win for him. If he plays well late in the game, some will just say, ‘Well, it’s against third-stringers — he should play well.’ And if he doesn’t play well, it’s bad no matter what.
Bill Belichick has obviously given no indication on playing time for anyone, but based on what we’ve seen in training camp thus far, it should be a busy night for Jones.
