Nothing the Patriots and Raiders did in Las Vegas this week will go into an official win or loss column — though there were a whole lot of reports about the Raiders “winning” drills on Tuesday and Wednesday.
As such, it’s not the wrong time to look for silver linings amid the uncertainty of where this iteration of the Patriots stands going into the 2022 season.
It would, of course, make everyone feel better to hear the offense could run the football at this point in training camp. (Unfortunately, they can't.) Also, the constant tweets about Davante Adams sonning Patriots’ cornerbacks has undoubtedly awakened those lingering doubts about the talent in the secondary.
But for a second straight day, the Patriots appeared to “win” the end of practice, with the offense getting a cathartic walk-off touchdown pass from Mac Jones and Hunter Henry to conclude the day.
Before that, reports indicated New England’s first-team offense showed life in the red-zone portion of practice, getting a few big-time touchdowns from Jakobi Meyers.
Plus, Jalen Mills and the cornerbacks battled back against Adams and the Raiders’ vaunted receiving corps. Adams naturally still got his on Wednesday because, well, he’s the best receiver in football, but those in attendance noted the strong response by Mills, Jonathan Jones, and Myles Bryant to the tough challenge.
Matthew Judon and the defensive front, meanwhile, were apparently a wrecking ball over both days, repeatedly blowing up run plays and making life tough for Raiders quarterback Derek Carr.
The grind has arguably been the most consistent thing about this Patriots preseason: struggle and frustration over one segment or even a whole day of practice that eventually yields growth, however incremental it seems. And then a setback will happen, and the cycle begins again.
If failure is the best teacher in life, the Patriots should have a PhD by the time the season kicks off September 11 against Miami.
Perhaps that's why Bill Belichick has leaned so heavily on joint practices to get his best players work rather than preseason contests, during which you don't get many snaps of "1s" against "1s." Though the offense could probably still use the reps during Friday night's preseason game, the most trying work has arguably happened already.
From the sounds of it, the Patriots should feel somewhat encouraged -- and as battle-tested as they can be -- as they come to the end of this preseason. And yes: that is said knowing the Patriots didn't play their starters in preseason Week 1 for those 15ish plays against the New York Giants (oh, the horror!).
How can that be with the offense still learning a new system that can take months -- sometimes years -- to master and a defense without shutdown cornerbacks? Because the Patriots have shown they can still be a functional NFL team even while not having all the answers, which will be absolutely essential this season.
As it stands right now, the Patriots don’t have the makings of an elite AFC team this year. They have a lot of “good” players — maybe one “great” one (Matthew Judon) — but no truly elite ones.
Crazier things have happened, of course, but it’s a lot to ask of Bill Belichick to get 12 wins and a division title out of this team with the AFC East and conference at large stacking up the way it is.
But bounce-back days like Wednesday suggest the Patriots have what it takes to be competitive and make plays against potential playoff squads like the Raiders. Of course, you don’t get wins for simply being in games at the end against good teams. You have to be able to finish the job.
Whether or not they can steal one of those contests they come into as underdogs will decide their playoff fate — and how we ultimately feel about this 2022 campaign. For now, though, we're telling you...there's a chance.
