Tonight the Patriots will play their 4th and last preseason game of 2017 as the Giants come to Foxborough. According to local pigskin pundits and bobbleheads, Tom Brady and the starters will not be playing tonight.
Tonight will be all about the kids who are trying to write the first chapter of their NFL story and veterans hoping their story isn't over.
I suspect Bill Belichick and his coaches already know who has a spot of the Final 53 and who doesn't. It's possible, though unlikely, that what they see tonight will change their minds. D.J. Foster, Devin Lucien, Austin Carr, and Jacob Hollister may not be playing for a spot on New England's roster but they're certainly trying to convince some GM somewhere they can play in the NFL.
That should make for some fun football. Football that looks like it belongs on a playground more than in a stadium. Football reminiscent of the early days of the AFL. I'll be watching…
Who Does Play
Those who don't play tonight are mortal locks for the Final 53 (or IR). For most of the summer the gridiron cognoscenti have had upwards of 40 roster locks for the Patriots; not too surprising for a Super Bowl champion. Let's roll with 40 players resting tonight. That means 50 men are playing for 13 spots, Okay, 23 spots if you count the practice squad. Of course, there's plenty of variability depending on position group but this game definitely has a two men enter, one man leaves kind of vibe to it.
Jacoby Brissett
Brissett is supposed to start and if so should play the entire game. Brissett only needs to look better than Christian Hackenberg and Bryce Petty to secure a roster spot on the Jets. He'll have to play a lot better than that to hold onto a roster spot with the Patriots. Even more than Jacoby's mom, Lucien, Carr, and Hollister have to be hoping Brissett plays well, makes good decisions, and throws on time and with accuracy.
David Harris
Is David Harris a step slow because he's 33-years old or could it be indecision as he's still learning the New England defense? Occam's Razor argues for the former, rather than the latter, unfortunately. I do expect Harris to play but I'm not reading too much into his roster status. Occam and I are clearly not be on the same page here; I think he just needs the reps.
Cyrus Jones
Jones has looked better than he did last year but that's not exactly setting the bar high. Even before Edelman's injury, it appeared the Patriots hoped Jones could take the primary role returning punts in 2017. There should be plenty of punts in this one.
Jacob Hollister
I like Hollister more as a 5th wide receiver than as a 3rd tight end.
Austin Carr
I don't think it will be possible to stash Carr on the practice squad.
Devin Lucien
Who is this guy? I should know more about the 2nd year wide receiver, shouldn't I? That's not a good sign, is it?
D.J. Foster
With starters resting, Foster should get plenty of carries. Of course, he'll be running behind a makeshift, practice-squad eligible offensive line. We should learn a lot about Foster's ability to make defenders miss tonight.
The One Nobody Saw Coming
I'm going with wide receiver K.J. Maye for no other reason than that he's listed at 5' 8" on the Patriots roster. And the comp to Cole Beasley.
Mental Toughness
This is about as far away from a Super Bowl game as you can get and yet the players on the field tonight will tell us a lot about how they would play in a Super Bowl. They're playing for their pigskin lives and they know it. How they respond to that pressure is important because the Patriots are always playing on the main stage. We'll see tonight who is or isn't ready to play drums, bass, and sing backup.
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