Jaguars @ Patriots Pregame Thoughts

It has been a long time coming but football has returned, starting tonight with five preseason games.  While the Ravens and Eagles matchup looks entertaining, we’re from New England!  All eyes in the region should be focused solely on tonight’s preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Foxboro today.  Here are some of the things you should be looking for.

Nate Solder

Nate Solder and Robert Craft

The first round draft pick should be getting a lot, if not all of the work protecting the quarterback’s blind-side tonight.  Veteran left tackle Matt Light is still on the active/physically unable to play (PUP) list so Solder, wearing number seventy-seven, should play a dominant number of the snaps.  If all goes well this season, we could see the 6’8, 319 pound rookie starting the season over Light.

Hoyer vs. Mallett

Rookie Mallett carrying the veteran's pads

Brian Hoyer has been a great back-up to Brady since he was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2009.  Since the preseason is usually the only time back-up quarterbacks see any snaps (knock on wood), expect to see a lot of Hoyer and a good amount of Mallett as well.  The rookie Mallett is considered to be the quarterback of the future by many here in New England (sorry, Tom Brady won’t be around forever) and tonight will be the first chance to really see how strong of an arm he has.  Hoyer is equally talented but with a few years under his belt, Hoyer might be looking to be the next Matt Cassel and perform so well off the bench that he may spark interest in a team that could use a good quarterback (cough Washington). 

Pass Rush

The biggest problem with the Patriots last season was their lack of a pass rush, this is well documented.  So what did Bill Belichick do to fix the problem?  Simple, just sign a massive amount of defensive linemen and see who the best is.  Going into tonight’s matchup, the Patriots will have twenty-one defensive linemen on their roster.  That is a little more than 20% of the players on the team.  Expect a lot of moving parts and schemes in an attempt to see what works and more importantly, who works, to generate a pass rush.

While the season is underway we must keep in mind that this is the preseason and doesn’t count for much.  In order to keep guaranteed starters healthy, we may see that a lot of them don’t play too long tonight.  I already mentioned that Matt Light will probably not suit up.  Here are some other things that you shouldn’t expect to see.

Brady/Ochocinco



Ochocinco and Brady will get that chemistry, don't worry



If I thought there was enough room for a middle category of things that you’ll see a medium amount of, this is one thing I’d put there.  While I don’t expect to see Brady or Ochocinco on the field very long, I do expect them on the field, probably for no more than a quarter.  Brady has been open about his frustration so far because of the lack of rhythm in the offense so far which he blames on the lack of time they’ve had to work together due to the lockout.  This game may be that opportunity to get in the extra work and really get a connection going.

Albert Haynesworth

Haynesworth loves New England

Honestly, I’ll be surprised if the big guy shows up.  Not because there is anything wrong or that he doesn’t want to be there, but because he hasn’t practiced for four days straight due to an injury (undisclosed as always with Belichick).  This cannot in anyway be attributed to his attitude, so calm down.  Owner Robert Craft recently stated that Haynesworth was, “not there for the money.”  This was proven when he restructured his contract and went from making around $6 million this season to $1 million.  I expect Haynesworth back and playing in the next preseason game.

A Specific Defensive Scheme

Belichick is a defensive genius and if he really was going to change from a 3-4 to a 4-3 philosophy, do you really think he’d display it for the whole NFL to see tonight?  Belichick will be mixing up the defensive schemes and sending all kinds of rushes.  But then again, what else is new?  All of this talk about changing schemes is useless because Belichick has only one scheme, the “Belichick” philosophy.  By this I mean, there is never a set defense on the field for the Patriots as Belichick creates a new defense every week to incorporate what is important to stopping their next opponent.  Don’t read too far into this talk and don’t expect to see anything out of the ordinary tonight as far as defensive “standards” go.

While the big names will be out for most of the game, it is always interesting to see what the Patriots have in the background.  This will prove to be an exciting and informative game on where the Patriots are heading and how fast they are getting there.  If you’re really ambitious, you can try looking for me in the crowd, I’ll be there in Section 304.  Expect a full report from me tomorrow at some point.